Dinosaur: Exodus of Sorrow
by Tenkai Nankobo 101
Summary: What if the 1996 concept for Dinosaur was aired instead of the 2000 final product? Featuring Yar and Plio as the grandparents, Bruton and Suri as Aladar's parents, this fanfiction asks what would've happened if the original concept was the final product. Tragedy and adventure loom within this fantastic alteration to Disney's "Dinosaur"!
1. Prologue & Chapter One

**A/N: Firstly, let me apologize for how long it has taken me to return to the fanfiction world. I was beside myself with grief on account of what Disney had done to Star Wars (so to speak) and I had finally fulfilled my dream of becoming a published author. So I have been away with that and finishing my Bachelor's degree in Social Studies Teaching (which I'll get this May, if all goes well)! However, I finally found out about the original 1996 concept for the movie _Dinosaur_ , one of my all-time faves, and I thought 'Why not take a gander as to what it could have been, had it been continued?' So here is _Dinosaur: The Exodus of Sorrow_ , honoring that original concept with elements from the final product to bring it to life. Enjoy!**

 **Dinosaur**

 **The Exodus of Sorrow**

 **By**

 **Christopher Cleveland**

 **Prologue**

It had been many years since Zini had known danger, many years since the herd had reached the Nesting Grounds. In that time, he became the patriarch of his own clan of lemurs who enjoyed all the fruits of the sacrifices he made alongside Aladar the herd leader. Like Zini, Aladar was a grandfather as well and more than that a revered one too. Zini commanded similar respect among the lemurs but still, he remembered a time when he was an outcast. He remembered a time when his family had cast him aside and the only way to gain respect again was to find a new one.

As he watched his grandchildren and their parents bounce around with the herd, he decided it would be a good idea to visit the site of the dinosaur who first made it all happen. For dinosaurs like Aladar, the climb up to see Old Gotama was always a bit of effort but for lemurs? It was a different story since they could use the trees and vines to climb up, which wasn't difficult even for Zini at his age. Even at thirteen years old, Zini could still navigate branches, vines, jungle debris, as though he were five years old (the age he was when he met Aladar). Climbing up to the site, he gazed upon the bones of Old Gotama who had been there even before the eldest herd members of Aladar's day and would probably remain long after even Zini died.

He stared at the skeleton, pondering what first compelled Old Gotama to come to the Nesting Grounds. What had first compelled what was likely the first iguanodon to share the site with everyone and pass the legacy down (through many years of succession) to Aladar and Zini? It was fun speculation and there were times when his old friend would join him in such speculations. He could always tell when Aladar was approaching too, he had a limp in his right arm that developed from his battle with his predecessor Kron. This time, it looked like Aladar was not only coming to join him but brought a couple of his grandchildren with him too.

 _It's that time again, isn't it? When he introduces the eldest of the new generation to Old Gotama and explains why the spirit of sharing saved the herd from certain doom_ thought Zini. "Zini, old friend! How are you today!?" Aladar asked, excited to see his best and closest confidant again.

"Just peachy, Aladar. Remembering good times and bad from our youth with Old Gotama to help me out," Zini teased.

"Grandpa Aladar, how come you never told us the story of how we got here? And what's a Carnotaur?" asked one of Aladar's grandchildren. Zini shuddered, his spine fraught with chills the moment he heard the name "Carnotaur" again.

"Who told you about those things?" Aladar asked.

"My brother did, said you and Grandma Neera were talking about fighting them before you came here. Sorry, is that bad?" asked the kid.

"No, not at all. In fact, Zini?" Aladar asked. Zini piped up the moment his name was heard and asked Aladar what it was he would suggest. "Should we tell them the story of the journey here like we did for several of _your_ grandkids?" Aladar offered.

"I don't see why not. We might not have had the threat of Carnotaurs or Raptors in many years but you can never be too careful. If they ever find the valley, our descendants will need to be ready to fight them the way we did to get here," Zini agreed. Aladar nodded, finding wisdom in his friends answer especially since so many other grandchildren of his already knew the story. So Aladar decided it was time to add seven more to the list of grandchildren who knew the truth about how the herd reached the Nesting Grounds to enjoy a life of leisure and safety.

"It was a long time ago, come to think of it, how long ago was it Zini?" Aladar began.

"Let's see, I'm thirteen now and I was five when we met. So I'm guessing that it's been eight years since we first came here?" Zini replied.

"Eight years since we met? Hot diggity, that it sure seemed like yesterday didn't it? Anyway, it all began eight years ago when I was a bit more youthful. I was already eleven when I first met him all those years ago when we were both young and impetuous like you guys now. Anyway, it began with a carnotaur attack, a reckless decision, and a fireball which fell from the heavens to force the hand of the herd to move somewhere safe and secluded from the perils of the old world," Aladar started.

 _He_ loves _to go for the dramatic start, doesn't he? Still, it's more fun to watch him tell the story than it is to be the one telling it to my own grandkids_ Zini silently admitted. Then he sat down to join Aladar's grandkids as Aladar lied down to tell the story of the life they enjoyed. "You know Aladar, if I recall correctly, that Carnotaur attack was before you even hatched so that must have been eleven and half years ago or something?" Zini inquired aloud.

"Ha! You're on the rock, old friend. It was twenty years ago, anyway, young ones! The story began with an attack by a predator before I hatched," Aladar admitted.

 **Nineteen Years Earlier...**

 **Chapter One**

The forest was quiet as it usually was whenever there wasn't a predator on the prowl for their next meal. Before the great forest through which the herd had traversed, mere days before, was a great flat steppe where species of all kinds came to live, breathe, and nest. The day was peaceful in its start with the brachiosaurs dipping their feet in the river, the pachyrhinosaurs taking a mud bath, and the parasaurs drinking from the river's edge. In fact, the only ones not eating or drinking or cooling themselves in the water were the iguanodons who had already eaten their fill.

Besides that, many of the females were mothers with newly laid eggs to tend to after they ate their fill. One batch, however, belonged to the daughter of the dominant pair in the iguanodon herd. Suri, daughter of Yar and Plio the alpha iguanodons, had laid her first clutch of fresh eggs that now she needed to tend to for the next six months or so. The father was Bruton, a warrior iguanodon with some years under him though still youthful and impetuous. Already he'd proven himself by killing half the members of a raptor pack and scattering the rest of them.

He still had the scars from a couple of them slashing into his skin but now he wore those scars with dignity. One thing was for sure, Plio and Yar were proud to call them a son as a result of him and Suri becoming a mated pair. It was much better than having the sniveling, conniving upstart named Kron who yearned for Suri but knew better than to challenge Bruton or Yar. Bruton was making his rounds when his mate began regulating the temperature of the nest they had created together. He looked like a fierce warrior with the scars and his bulk (compared to other iguanodons) helped with that, immensely but around Suri?

Around Suri, there could have been no better mate, no gentler companion to help watch over the eggs of the future. "How are they doing, my love?" Bruton asked, his voice tender even as he caressed slowly his mate's neck with the top of his snout. Suri giggled with affection and he had to get his snout out from under her neck before she could speak.

"They're doing fine, Bruton. Don't you have a patrol to go on or something?" she asked. Bruton chuckled and caressed her neck again before he spoke about the patrols he did.

"Already did another sweep like your Mom and Pop asked, there isn't a single predator nearby that I can see. Least, not any that could think to camouflage itself: if there are any predators nearby, be they raptor or carnotaur, we'll know soon enough. That I can promise will be the case," Bruton said. Then he marched off to make another round but not before asking Yar and Plio if they wanted him to go with a scout this time.

"You never needed a scout, Bruton. Why should that change because we want you to join a group?" Yar teased.

"Ha! Fair point, Suri seems to have laid a good bunch. Twelve forming a perfect circle and a thirteenth in the dead center of the whole thing," Bruton told them.

"I think Suri's already given that one a name. If it's a girl, she said she wanted to name it Plio like her mother. But if it's a boy, she was thinking Aladar, like her great-grandfather," said Yar.

"Why do I always gotta go to you guys to hear this kind of stuff when I should be able to go to my mate and find out?" Bruton retorted.

"Oops, maybe she meant it as a surprise for you. Sorry about that," Yar snapped humorously. Plio thumped him on the shoulder with her head slightly, causing the older iguanodon to react with laughter and some pain. Bruton scoffed with slight humor before continuing on though it wasn't long before he was obstructed by Kron.

"What do you want this time, Kron?" asked Bruton. Kron was the type of iguanodon that was a coward, afraid to take the chances that Bruton and Yar were willing to take. Plio had even joked that if he were in charge, he'd kill half the herd just to compensate for his egotistic nature.

"Let me join you on a patrol, maybe even kill some raptors with you! I can't wait for my chance to prove myself to Suri and her parents," Kron offered. He had had his eye on Suri for as long as either one of them could remember but as always, Bruton wouldn't have any of it.

"You had your chance when that pack of raptors attacked us and I ended up wiping out half of them by myself. Where were you when that attack happened? I could have used a companion that could have killed the rest and besides me, you're fit as they come," Bruton replied. Then, before Kron could object, Bruton continued past to see to the other nests; he figured that Yar and Plio would want to know how well the rest of the herd was doing. As he looked around, he was impressed with what he saw: in addition to Suri, seventeen others in a herd of fifty had twelve or thirteen eggs.

In addition to that, the ones that didn't still had somewhere between the six to ten eggs in each nest. _I haven't seen an exceptional year like this in my life, I wonder if Plio and Yar have ever seen a good year like this in a while. Gotama knows how long it's been since the last time the herd did this well in general_ thought Bruton with pride. In addition to that, the parasaurolophus herds seemed to be doing pretty well too and the pachyrhinosaurs herd. The only ones that didn't seem to be so abundant were the brachiosaurs and they always had a low hatch rate anyway.

There was one parasaurolophus infant who was messing around and sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted. Suri even shooed him away from her nest when he started looking around at the egg of Bruton's potential son and heir. The kid wasn't doing anything dangerous, he just should have learned better than to sneak around at nests of other herds without consent. He was driven from other nests soon enough before heading into the water which was both safe to drink from and swim in if the number of dinosaurs doing both was indication. _Where is that kid's mother or father?_ Bruton wondered even if he still kept to his herd and no others.

As Bruton kept an eye on his herd and an eye on any outside threats approaching, he noticed the infant running further and further out of sight from the rest of the animals. While he had no reason to worry right at that moment, he did decide that maybe a chat with the herd alpha was in order. But Yar and Plio soon intervened when he spoke to them about it, telling him that he shouldn't be as concerned about it as he was being. "I'm sure the parasaur alpha will straighten that kid out the next time he comes back from his wanderings," Yar added. Bruton nodded in agreement before reporting the well-being of _their_ herd.

"Yar, that's good! The last time we had such great success was when your father was leading the herd!" Plio said. Yar nodded and told Bruton that he could relax with Suri if he wished.

"I'm a little on the edge for some action but maybe staying with my clutch will help me settle down. The raptor attack was only a few weeks ago and who knows when the next predator attack could come to us," Bruton admitted. Yar nodded his agreement but he and Plio urged Bruton to relax and get down from the high of glory he was experiencing. Meanwhile, the infant parasaur that Suri had scared off earlier found a winged lizard to chase around and into the deeper forest. Despite being forbidden to explore the inside of the forest, his desire to chase the lizard overcame his reason and his mother's foreboding warnings.

After arriving several yards into the forest, the lizard finally stopped and the infant sniffed. He had never seen such a creature as this before and likely would never see another one like it again. But as he came close, it flew off again and head for what looked like a tree trunk with rigidness of the exterior and the apparent thickness of the cracked ridges. Then the infant heard something drop from above and splash on the branch but it didn't splash and dissipate the way water did. Instead, it pooled more like tree sap on the branches rather than dry like water would on the bark.

The infant sniffed and it had an unusual stench to it, like something rotted and dead rather than fecal. It looked up to see if he could detect the source but when he did, he wished he had never laid eyes upon it. The beast above him had sharp teeth, red eyes, a horn on each side of the face, and a menacing growl uttered from the depths of its carnivorous throat. It was the source of the saliva and though he didn't know what it was, he knew it was dangerous and that he should run away. At once, it fled knowing that the beast he had seen within the forest was following him as he could hear the rumbles of its footsteps.

He cried for help as he stepped out of the forest, cried for anyone that could make the scary beast go away. Bruton picked up the calls first and knew better than to not listen up when he heard them as he had heard danger calls from a parasaur before. "Yar, Plio, see that Suri knows to get ready to get out of here. That's a danger call that infant's emitting," Bruton ordered. Though Yar and Plio were the alphas of the herd, they had no problem listening to and agreeing with Bruton on that one.

As soon as Plio and Yar reached their daughter to warn her, Bruton saw what was causing the infant's distress call. Bursting out of the forest to make another meal out of one of the herds' weakest members was none other than a Carnotaur. "Suri, take an egg with your parents and get out of here! The same goes for everyone in the herd, save as many eggs as you can and get out of here!" Bruton exclaimed just before the herd broke into panic. But his order came in the nick of time as mated pairs took two to four eggs from their nests before retreating.

The pachyrhinosaurus herd did the best they could with carrying their eggs, each member of a mated pair being able to carry three in their mouths, same as the parasaurs. But Bruton wasn't planning on joining _his_ herd just yet, not just yet. While everyone else panicked and fled, he charged but not in the same direction as everyone else: he charged for the carnotaur. It was a young creature, not much bigger than him but still every bit as dangerous as the older ones were. Before he came face to face with the beast itself, it had been chasing down an old pachyrhinosaurs who gratefully ran past him as the carnotaur stopped when he showed his side to it.

The carnotaur was confused, having never encountered an iguanodon who was brave enough to fight it before. "Bruton! Bruton, where are you?" he could faintly hear Suri cry. _Doing my job for the herd, love, doing my job for the good of the herd_ Bruton thought silently. The Carnotaur began to snap at him but he dodged it then stood upright to try deliver a thumb spike to its face.

It dodged this and tried to nip at him again but he whipped it right across the upper part of its snout with his tail. The beast roared in agitation at this hit and tried to bite him again and again but it didn't get its lucky break on him until it rammed one of its horns into his thigh. Bruton cried out in agony and he knew that now that the beast had smelled blood, it wouldn't give up until it had killed him. While it was pinned to his thigh by its horn, he looked to see if the rest of the herbivores had gained distance between him and themselves. So now he fought, not for their lives as he had before but for his own and did he fight hard.

He used all four thumb spikes to scratch and claw at it as only a fierce iguanodon could do. When it began to rear up, he hit it with his tail again but this time he landed a more direct hit just below its left eye. It was a hit that temporarily blackened its vision in that side but this lasted only for a few seconds. In the distance, he could hear Suri crying and begging for him to come back but he knew this couldn't be done. If he ran now in the herd's direction then he would only be endangering the future of his own herd.

Likewise, he knew he wouldn't last much longer if he stayed and fought the carnotaur on this patch of plain. Rather, he had to head back to the forest as best he could and put even more distance between the two of them and his charge. So when he got a chance to do so, he thwacked the carnotaur again then made for the watering hole the herds had been using. He hoped the herd would take advantage and put even more distance between himself and the beast if possible. Though they weren't moving as fast as he would have liked, they were indeed taking advantage of the situation.

Already the pachyrhinosaurs had disappeared and the parasaurs were soon to follow suit but many of the iguanodons were still there, including Suri. _Perhaps I should give them a marking to remember my killer by before he eats me_ Bruton said just as the Carnotaur closed in. Bruton charged back toward it with enough force to offset the beast and stand upright just long enough to make his mark on the beast forever. As it reared up and prepared to break his spine with a single bite, he jabbed a thumb spike straight into its left eye just as its jaws closed down.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Suri watched helplessly as Bruton made one last stand against the Carnotaur, sacrificing himself to save the herd as he had volunteered to do against the raptors. But where most of the herd saw tragedy and strife at their greatest warrior being lost to them, one saw opportunity. Suri had managed to save two eggs from the nest she and Bruton had created together, the one that had been in the middle being included. The herds waited several long moments as the carnotaur decided it wasn't a good idea to devour Bruton on the plains where herbivores could watch. After all, it had just been spiked in the eye by its latest kill which made it vulnerable to bigger and more threatening elders of its species if they chose to come along and take the carcass.

So despite the herds watching with heavy hearts, the beast grabbed Bruton's corpse by the neck and dragged him away to be devoured far beyond the normal grounds of the herd. When they knew it was long gone, the herds slowly and reluctantly returned to their nests. Unfortunately, by the time they did, several found that the eggs they abandoned would soon be lost even if they tended to them and postponed the inevitable. The nest that had held Bruton and Suri's clutch was thankfully one of the few exceptions but Suri knew better than to restore it fully. Now that Bruton was dead, there would be those who would contend for her as their mate even if it meant destroying the clutch: she already knew Kron would if that was needed.

So rather than put all the eggs back in the same nest, she took the thirteenth one and put it in a separate mound that she hid from his sight. For this, she chose a spot that was fairly self-regulatory in temperature and could be buried too deep for egg-thieves. She needed to be sure that at least one of her children survived even if Kron or someone else killed the rest. Sure enough, as she feared, Kron began making his advances on her not three days after Bruton died. "My condolences for your mate's death, Suri," he began.

From Kron, it was understandable to hear this as many members of the herd expressed their sympathies at the loss of their bravest warrior. But she knew that with him, there was more to the story than just simply offering condolences even as she thanked him. "You know, Suri, now that he is dead you and your hatchlings will need a new mate in order to survive long. Unless the whole herd decides to waste what little time and effort they'll have when they aren't taking care of their own," Kron said.

"I know where you're going with this Kron and I'm not interested. My grandparents have long since laid their last eggs but they're willing to help me with the ones I've got," Suri said.

"But of course the alphas would help their own daughter, the leaders of our herd have always had a soft spot for their own but not the rest of the herd. Better hope I do not become leader and change all of that for you or your family," Kron told her. She knew what he meant too, because Bruton had always been in the way of his ascension and now that he was no more? Now that Bruton had given up his life for the herd, Kron was free to challenge her father without fear of anyone being strong enough to stop him. Still, she thought she'd ask him in case she was mistaken in the implications he was making against her.

"Are you saying you'd destroy my nest if that was what it took for me to become your mate?" Suri asked aloud. She hoped to Gotama that she was wrong about him but she wasn't going to count on it. Kron had always been jealous of her mate, jealous of the bravery he had to kill half a raptor pack and drive off a small pair of carnotaur brothers. Not to mention, stand up to this one that killed him and gouge out its eye before his life ended and he became its dinner.

"I'll destroy your nest and your parents, if I must do it. You will be my mate, one way or the other, this I can promise you!" Kron snapped. She knew it in her heart that this was exactly the kind of iguanodon that she had already suspected. Not bad enough Kron had failed to help Bruton with that raptor attack and fled before the smaller pair of Carnotaurs in the months before. Now, he was daring to suggest he was deserving of Bruton's lasting legacy or else he would be the one to destroy it.

"If that is the attitude you're going to have, I will never be your mate! In fact, I will never again have a mate beside Bruton for as long as I live!" Suri exclaimed. Kron sniffed then marched off, agitated that she would defy him even if she was beside herself with grief. Bruton's blood trail still stained the sand near where he fell before the Carnotaur took off with him. How dare she, when she knows her parents cannot help her forever! Kron thought to himself.

Kron decided that the time had come for him to take what was his by right and secure his final position. But Yar was prepared for this as much as anyone would be, seeing Kron's desire to challenge him in his stance. "Plio, go watch over that thirteenth egg while Suri watches over the rest. I don't trust Kron to limit any fight he has in him to me," Yar said. Plio nodded and left just as Kron declared he was challenging Yar for leadership of the herd before charging into him.

Yar sidestepped him then whipped him in the side with his tail, hard enough for Kron to be forced to take a few steps back. But Kron's anger allowed him to recover quickly and when he did, he rammed his head into the older Iguanodon's ribs. The force of the blow knocked the old dinosaur off his feet but it wasn't long before Yar was on his belly and raising himself up again. Then he and Kron clashed chests against one another, sizing each other up by wrestling with the arms held to their side so that they couldn't easily use their deadly thumb spikes. For several moments, it looked like the two of them were evenly matched until Kron gained an advantage.

The younger iguanodon drove his elder opponent over a rock that tripped him on one foot before pushing him down onto his side. In addition to that, Kron quickly pinned Yar under his hands, holding him down by way of his neck and chest with the use of his full body weight. He had avoided using the thumb spikes as Yar had had to do when he took the mantle of the leader. But now, Kron had won, having kept Yar pinned for long enough to take the leadership in a fair fight which meant danger for Suri. If she defied him now, it would be his right to kill her or smash her eggs as he pleased in retaliation.

It's a good thing we kept at least one egg separate from the rest of the nest. If Plio is successful in rearing that one to hatching, it matters not what happens to the rest of them. Though truly, I would have much rather had thirteen grandson than one if I do say so myself Yar thought glumly. Victorious, Kron declared himself the new leader of the herd and strode in triumph back to the daughter of his predecessor. "Well Suri, what do you think of me now that I am your new leader, hm?" Kron asked.

"Frankly, you're even less impressive now that you're the new leader than you were when you were cowering under Bruton's shadow. Go away before I take the position of leader back from you!" she hissed. But this time, Kron would not be denied by anyone least of all the former mate of the fallen Bruton.

"Bruton let himself be eaten by a Carnotaur so that you and the family might live. You dare dishonor that with your defiance against me?" Kron demanded. Then he rammed her with his head, clearing her from the nest and smashing three of her eggs with a single foot. When Suri had cleared the way, he brought another foot over and smashed another three beneath his heels. After that, he squatted down with his full weight and destroy the rest, rolling left and right to make sure.

When he arose again, he was surprised to see Suri bringing a thumb spike across his chest, scarring him with the cut it made. The sting he felt from this ran deeper than the physical sting of the blow itself, it was the emotional blow of knowing what her attack meant. It meant that even after all this, she would still reject him in favor of remaining faithful to Bruton. What did he have that I don't even now? Why did she love him so much when he was alive that now she won't take another!? Kron thought as he made his reply.

He rammed into her chest, knocking her down like he had knocked down her father but with one difference. Where he had knocked down her father completely over, he knocked her down just enough to make a good jab to her throat with his thumb spike. Suri cried out in pain but Kron did not care, instead he powered on, jabbing his thumb spike several more times until she was no longer crying out. Even when he knew that she was not breathing, he made a few more stabs to make sure that she was dead. After all, if Kron could not have her then he was going to make sure that no one else did now that Bruton was dead.

When he finished with her, he left her as she fell and he had a feeling it wouldn't have been long before scavengers came. As if being dealt a good hand for a change, many of the babies were already beginning to hatch. This included one that had escaped Kron, one that hadn't been smashed when he killed Suri and the rest of her brood with Bruton. He knew that it would be a few days before the scavengers came for meat which would be all that he would need. The young only needed a few days before they would be ready to leave the nest and move with the adults.

So when he saw the eggs starting to hatch, he grew ecstatic at the notion that he could soon lead the herd away from predators. During all this, Plio had dropped by to see a private hatching of her own. The thirteenth baby that Suri had hidden away as one of her final acts of maternity was stirring at roughly the same time as everyone else. While Kron was busy deposing her mate and killing her daughter, Plio knew that his downfall was assured with this hatching. Not because this one would be the strongest though the hatchling was the strongest she'd seen, not because he was the quickest, but because she could see this one was the most resilient.

This one never gave up like Suri had never given up, had courage like Bruton, and she knew that combination would be enough with the proper nurturing. Sure enough, as it emerged, Plio sensed that this one was going to be a male and so she knew just what to do besides helping him. "Come on, enter the world left behind by your parents. Come now to see what the herd has to offer..." she said, hesitating before she gave the hatchling his name. She decided it would be simply better to hold off on naming the child until Kron could see it with his own eyes.

So she helped the hatchling with getting the yoke off, helped it remove shards of eggshells, and even watched as its egg tooth fell off. Then she carefully grasped it in her mouth and carried him back to the safety of the herd, Yar being the first to greet her when she did. "By Old Gotama, is that...?" he began. Plio simply nodded and marched on with the child in her teeth, bringing him down only when he could see the rest of the herd who hardly believed their eyes.

"By Gotama, that can't be anything else! That's a grandchild who survived Kron!" said one member.

"Plio's too old to have children of her own, that has to be a grandchild!" said another. Kron heard the commotion and came forth to meet his predecessor and his mate to see what this was all about. When he arrived, his eyes widened with shock and his stance became slightly more cowardly than they were accustomed to seeing.

"Is that...?" he asked. Plio and Yar both nodded, smiling as they realized their future was still assured even if Kron had just signed away his. The older pair were never one to feel vengeance but if they had been, their revenge would have been assured through their grandson.

"Kron, as new leader of the herd, I'd like you to meet a potential successor in the future. Meet... Aladar, a name Suri suggested for him before you killed her," Plio said, taking a dramatic pause before introducing her grandson. Yar looked shocked himself, having never seen this kind of fire in his mate, not even when the two of them had first been smitten by one another. It was then that he realized why his love would probably outlive him whether or not by very much.

"Aladar, huh? There hasn't been a member of the herd with that name since your mate's father, Plio. Was it truly Suri's suggestion or are you telling me it is in an attempt to scare me senseless?" Kron demanded.

"I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to that question, Kron. You just don't want to admit it," Plio replied. Kron snorted in disgust and turned back to the herd, telling them to prepare to move out in a week to nine days. It wouldn't take long for predators to return when there was the reek of death in the air, thanks to Bruton's fall and Suri's murder. The herd knew this and had seen the signs around them with the parasaurs and the pachys getting ready to leave.

Their babies had not yet hatched but they were already on edge, thanks to the events of their iguanodon neighbor's succession crisis. But now that it had passed, a life on the move for the iguanodon herd was about to begin. A life filled with hardship, deprivation of food, and death at every turn imaginable. It was hardly the sort of life to bring a hatchling to, warrior-child or no.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Eleven times the rains of the wet season had come and gone, young Aladar growing up into a strong member of the herd under his grandparents' close supervision. During one of the many journeys of the herd, there was a family of small, furry animals that had kicked out one of its members. Zini, a lemur known for his wild antics and his notions that there was a grandiose paradise awaiting them all, had earned his exile from the clan. Not long afterwards, the herd was passing through and Zini made a friend out of Aladar who accepted him graciously. For the better portion of six months, the two had struck up an unlikely bond that culminated into a better friendship than Aladar had ever been able to acquire with the rest of the herd.

However, Aladar had been raised on stories of a place found by Old Gotama who decided to share this place with everyone. As long as the spirit of sharing lived, his grandparents told him, the herd would find their way back and keep the Nesting Grounds he found for them. Naturally, it wasn't long before Aladar took to his grandparents' lessons a little better than they expected and starting contending that such a place existed. But there were those who had accepted Kron's leadership and become skeptical that such a magical place truly existed. However, Kron saw a way to gain even greater power through this dream that Aladar would talk about with the younger iguanodons, a way perhaps to undermine him and show his folly.

He insisted that while the magical place didn't exist, he did know of something like it and that the herd would have to follow him wherever he went without question. "Follow me and I will save the future of our herd for all our infants, hatched or yet to be hatched. Now let's go home!" Kron told them. But Aladar wouldn't have any of it, that spirit that his father possessed showing again.

"Kron will likely lead all of us to our deaths before we ever reach the Nesting Grounds, much less anything he could fathom! Follow him and you'll become a meal for predators, soon enough!" Aladar promised.

"And what chance would you give them, son of Bruton? Your father may have been a great warrior but believe me, even he would follow me now that I lead!" Kron assured him. Somehow, Aladar doubted that but knew there was no point in insisting, not with the herd taking any shred of hope they could get even if it came from Kron. So Aladar politely requested to be excused to have a moment or two by himself, Zini being the only one to accompany him for safety reasons.

When Aladar was far enough away, he began to trot angrily, figuring that he could do better than Kron. "They made their decision, fine! I'm history!" Aladar declared. He trampled through the foliage and over a fallen tree, turning a branch a hundred and eighty degrees with a swipe of his hand as he climbed over. Meanwhile, Zini was struggling to keep up with his more massive, reptilian companion on just his two hopping feet.

"Exactly, who needs them? They made their decision, we are leaving!" Zini shouted in agreement. For some reason, Zini felt the need to flatter and provide nothing but compliments to maintain his companionship with Aladar. But had that been the way to do it, he would have been smashed at the first slip-up, months ago rather than still breathing.

"I'm going to find this place, Zini. It's out there, I know it!" Aladar hissed.

"We'll find that place, I know it too!" Zini replied. That was right before he fell into a puddle of muddy water and was drenched to the bone. He shook himself off until his fur became a poof of hair before continuing to follow Aladar as best he could. However, when he could finally return to following Aladar anyway since he had nowhere else to go now, he continued.

"What do a bunch of scaly, lipless, jungle-gulping, egg-sucking lizards know anyway, huh? I say let them fry!" Zini shouted. But it was right then that Aladar stopped and turned sharply to face his lemur friend who was so surprised he stopped where he landed. Unfortunately, he was soaked again as he had landed in one of Aladar's footprints which developed into a foot-shaped pool of water behind him.

"Zini, enough!" Aladar shouted. Zini apologized quickly, raising an arm up for self-defense as if it would have helped against someone as big as Aladar anyway. Then Aladar turned back and rose up to his hind legs to look at the sky in thought of what he had just spoken of. "It's so obvious," he added, "Why can't they see it?" During this time, Zini hopped aboard at his back legs and climbed up to make eye contact despite putting himself upside down when he stared into his friends lime-green eyes.

"Cause they're cretins," he answered with a snappy tone. Aladar's eyes widened uneasily with this sudden reply, still amazed at how much ground Zini could cover for being so small. Then Zini followed through with the explanation he was willing to give Aladar on the matter of his brethren.

"You know, dinosaurs! You know, solid bone heads, no brains they're idiots!" Zini said as he scratched his underarm, standing on Aladar's hand by this time. When Aladar made to interject, he asked what he said before continuing with what he was going to ask next. "So, what are we waiting for?" he asked.

"We?"

"Yeah, yeah we. You think I'm staying here with all these scaly, lipless, egg-sucking, beady-eyed..." Zini continued. But Aladar cut him off by raising his head up with enough force to throw Zini unto his back but not off him entirely. Zini replied to this by assuring him that he was just kidding and assuring his scaly friend that he wasn't going anywhere without him. Somehow, Aladar knew that would always be true and he was glad that he could always count on a friend like him even if Aladar was still swatting-flies bigger than him.

They returned to the herd, figuring that Aladar's grandparents would be worried about him if he didn't. What point was there in giving the only people who ever loved and raised him heart attacks when Kron already seemed bent on doing that as it was? The way they figured it, it would soon be time to head on the move again for fresher pastures. After all, the ones that had been sustaining them here were finally dying down and they would need to go elsewhere. What's more, raptors had begun to stalk the herd again and there were even rumors of a trio of Carnotaurs behind even them.

However, as Aladar and Zini returned to the herd, something in the sky fell from beyond the vault of the heavens. It burned with the blaze of ten thousand fires and threatened to be just as destructive when it touched down. The immediate blast was too distant to be an immediate concern to Aladar or his family but they would feel the effects of the blast soon enough. It was nothing apocalyptic, not the type of thing that would spell doom to the world of dinosaurs. Rather, it would simply change things about their habitat that they had always taken for granted, things that worked to Kron's advantage to the chagrin of the herd.

 **"Grandpa, grandpa!** Was that the same fireball that drove the Carnotaurs out of their homeland in the south? The same fireball that forced the herd to find this place a lot faster than they might have otherwise?" asked one of Aladar's descendants.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there, little one. Give your grandfather a little more time than that, young man," Aladar begged with a chuckle.

"Come on Aladar, even you know there's not much before the predator attacks began. You could probably skip right along to the Carnotaur attacks and you wouldn't miss a single thing important," Zini promised.

"Was it really that boring, shortly after the comet struck? I vaguely remember something about someone trying to challenge Kron before we took off for the Nesting Grounds," Aladar said.

"Now you're just getting things mixed up, there were those who were just as quick to speak out against Kron as to shut down when he called them out on it. Nobody ever formally challenged him to a fight but beyond that, the herd was complacent with him. There were also other herds that joined him, especially when he killed their alphas, securing more herd animals heading in the same direction. We must have had upwards of ten thousand iguanodons by the time we were headed in the same direction," Zini said.

"Very well, then let's simply skip to when we were beginning the journey. Better still, why not skip to the beginning of the more perilous leg in our journey. Especially when we began hitting the plains, instead of keeping to the forest as we probably should have," Aladar offered. The kids looked like they were interested in reaching that part of the journey even if nothing but tragedy awaited. Still, Aladar lied down and it wasn't long before the children were just as entranced with his story as they had been, moments before.

By this time, Zini was also accompanied by grandsons of his own who were interested, especially after hearing their grandfather's comments. However, the story that Aladar had to tell was one that would compel them to tears as much as it would make them laugh. It would make their sides hurt as much as they would make their eyes burn with grief for what came before. The story of how the herd had finally arrived to the Nesting Grounds was truly beginning now and they all knew it too well.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

"Our survival, our future, lies across the plains! Now let's head home, now!" Kron exclaimed. Aladar and his grandparents looked on with disappointment that Kron would kill some many alphas as to warrant a takeover of ten thousand individuals. How could he possibly watch over so many unless he planned to round up the more powerful individuals in each herd? And even if he succeeded, how did he hope to stand a chance against stopping any one of them from overwhelming him then taking back their herds?

Nevertheless, the herds followed him mostly out of fear even when members of the herd like Aladar spoke out against him. The spirit of Bruton was indeed alive and well in his son, Kron noticed, and while he didn't aim to trample it, he did aim to undermine it when possible. As luck would have it for him, a pack of velociraptors began to follow the large herd in their flight. Kron responded by issuing a proclamation that the slowest and weakest of the herd would be abandoned and left to their fate. Anyone foolish enough to try and aid them would be left behind as well, a decree he declared in the hopes of ridding himself of Aladar without his blood on his hands.

But the problems Kron faced when he was not worrying about the threat that Aladar could pose were more numerous than Aladar and his family could ever be. For one thing, ever since that fireball in the sky came down, the traditional pathways the herd had relied on to find greener pastures had either been destroyed or at least distorted in unrecognizable ways. Worse than that, Kron lacked Yar's experience with recognizing natural markers in the pathways that remained though he'd have never admit it to the older iguanodon. "Something's not right about this path, I can feel it," Aladar said.

"Don't worry, son, if anyone can find the way to greener pastures then it is our esteemed leader. Kron is, after all, the alpha male now and he has done what even I could never do: unite thousands together for a common cause," said Yar. I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or you actually believe that Aladar thought. Frankly, he was inclined to the former but he didn't take his grandfather as being sarcastic, having never heard him speak so in his life. Plus, his grandmother had always taught him that it was better to approach resistance to Kron's authority with civility.

If an opportunity came for violent rebellion, never take it, that was how they looked at rebellion. But if an opportunity to speak out and gain followers that could overwhelm Kron's supporters in great enough numbers then take that instead. Brutality ensured leadership by the day but charisma would win it for the years, it simply needed patience and nurturing. Aladar would sigh reluctantly when he would hear this and accept out of respect for the wisdom of his grandparents and the fact they raised him when his parents had perished. Such a gift of life deserved consistent gratification on his part, on top of the respect they already paid him through their love.

But their perils were far from short as Kron was first to realize. In addition to the raptors and his lack of navigation skills, there was a heavy drought. Water was difficult to find even in long standing forests like the one they had just traversed to get to these plains. Worst of all, the plains themselves had next to no grass and what little there was could not supply everyone. Dust storms erupted when winds blew at more than ten miles an hour and some veered off course. One looking upon the herd from a distance would find it no surprise that those who strayed were immediately seized by the raptors.

But even through the storms, Aladar was adamant about never losing his grandparents in the storms. Sometimes, they got so bad that Kron would order the herd to hunker down and wait despite the risks to that. However, every time there was a storm, Aladar asked his grandparents to gently bite down on the end of his tail to hold on and not lose course like many in their age group. One time, during a milder dust storm, this move caught the attention of two elderly iguanodons who had survived both the reign of Yar and the last years of his father's rule. Their names were Eema and Baylene, two sisters who still could recount frightful experiences.

"Perhaps the most frightful times in our herd's history were when carnotaurs started attacking the herd in great numbers. Normally, you'd get no more than two or three and that was already formidable enough whenever they came to eat," said Eema.

"But there were times when twelve or fourteen were seen within a single month or pair of months. Worst of all, these weren't isolated incidents from various pairs or trios of carnotaurs," added Baylene.

"These were coordinated family attacks by beasts that were already dreadful alone! By Gotama, it was awful how we had to endure attack after attack by an emboldened family of killers," Eema agreed. Aladar knew of carnotaurs, though he'd never seen one, and he knew their formidability even when hunting alone. He could scarcely imagine a whole family of twelve to fourteen times as many making attacks against the herd.

"Was this family ever stopped?" Aladar asked them. Eema and Baylene looked at each other, trying to think if they could remember whether or not that happened. Then the lightbulb donned on both of them about how that feat was accomplished.

"Though at great cost to our herd, yes." said Baylene.

"How?" Aladar continued. But at that moment, Yar interjected, the ladies both bowing respectfully to their former leader. It was Aladar's guess that his father overheard the comments about the carnotaur family and had come to see what it was about.

"Bruton, your father, declared war on the family. When I objected, he laid out a plan of attack for killing the older ones and dispersing the younger ones that I couldn't object to. So I temporarily surrendered power as an alpha to him so that he could execute the plan. Many of our brethren died but we took ten of the thirteen carnotaurs with the casualties we experienced. Come Aladar, that'll be enough reminiscing on the past for now, I mean it," replied Yar.

But Aladar only pretended to join his grandfather until Yar was far enough out of sight before he asked Eema and Baylene one more question. "If my father was such a great warrior, how come he isn't with us today?" he asked them.

"Because one of the surviving members of that big carnotaur family killed him," Eema said.

"He died protecting the herd from that beast, he even saved a straggling pachyrhinosaurus from doom. Besides that, he gave his life so your mother could bring you into this world: that is, before Kron killed her and your twelve siblings, too," Baylene told him. Aladar let his head drop, trying his best to process everything he had just been told even as he thanked the old sisters for their knowledge. Then he headed back to join his grandfather, who by now was probably concerned that his only heir would disobey him like that. Sure enough, when Aladar regrouped with him, he had that stern look that said he was disappointed in the boy.

"Sorry grandpa," Aladar begged.

"I asked you courteously to come with me and you disobeyed to my face. What do you have to say for yourself?" snapped the older iguanodon.

"Yar, do not be so harsh on him. He was only curious to know the past we never told him, the past I wish we told him sooner rather than let him hear it from those kind sisters," said Plio. Aladar's mind perked up then, upon hearing Plio refer to Eema and Baylene as "kind sisters", probably meaning their words were true. Nonetheless, he knew better than to simply assume with them and spoke up in those moments.

"So Baylene and Eema were telling the truth? So my father was really a hero of the herd while Kron was a coward?" Aladar demanded. Plio nodded but Yar quickly added that Aladar should not go around telling that story openly in case Kron heard about it. Though the rumor mill would die down in a herd of this size quickly, there'd be no way to guarantee that Kron didn't have a spy right in their presence. Still, Aladar wasn't mad: to be fair, he also hadn't asked to know about his parents and only got curious when two herd sisters starting talking.

There was no reason for him to be made when that was the case and his grandparents were in the right to deny him such details. So rather than focus on what might have infuriated him, had the circumstances been different, he asked a fair and relevant question. "What became of the carnotaur that killed my father?" he asked.

"He and two younger brothers who survived your father's initial wrath still hunt pachys and parasaurs but they haven't attacked our herd in a while. Sometimes, they'll scavenge the bodies of our fallen but they haven't been seen since you hatched. We can always tell the beast from his siblings by the fact your father gouged out his right eye before he killed him," Yar said.

"We've had more sightings of his siblings, one of whom has a broken horn from a fight for dominance he had with One-Eye where he lost badly. The third we recognize because he's smaller than the other two but they're brothers who usually work in unison. Sometimes, the small one will scout ahead and let his brothers know what's happening. We can also tell him apart from his brother by the bite scars on his nose from One-Eye," said Plio. Sounds like this One-Eye is mean even for carnotaurs Aladar thought.

"Sounds like they're vicious savages," he said aloud.

"Yes and you better consider yourself lucky we're only followed by the raptors for now. Raptors know when to quit but when a carnotaur has drawn blood, they don't stop until either you're dead or you've killed them," snapped Yar. Then they were off again for new pastures, Kron had spotted a mountain range in the distance that looked massive. I think I recognize those mountains from my youth: Gotama's Pass lies in these if I'm right! Kron thought excitedly. He bellowed for the herd to march as best it could without a care for stragglers, young or old.

"What's with Kron? He's never been this excited about anything so far," Aladar inquired.

"It looks like Kron found the mountains that contain Gotama's Pass. A good thing too, if he did: Gotama's Pass is a trail every herd member ought to travel at least once. Even the carnotaurs know it though they'd never hunt us along it, too narrow for their favorite tactic," Yar said.

"My sight isn't what it once was, how can you tell from here?" Plio asked. Aladar looked ahead, even standing up on his hind legs to see if he could spot the mountains from his position. However, Zini (who largely kept quiet up to this point) used the top of his nose to scout ahead and see if he could catch sight of the mountains.

"Well, I see mountains but I've never been this far away from my home before. I'm the last person you should ask about whether or not it's Gotama's Pass," said the lemur.

"Aladar, what are you doing with that hairball in tow?" Yar asked.

"Hey, cheer up, Grandpa! If anybody can spot mountains from here better than Kron, it's this guy," Aladar retorted.

"As long as he isn't causing any trouble, what's the harm, Yar? Besides, hairballs like him always had better sight than we did even in our prime," Plio admitted.

"A dinosaur with humility? Never thought I'd live to see the day, you getting this Aladar?" joked Zini. Aladar flexed his neck to let Zini know he needed to mind his manners, especially when the only dinosaurs that couldn't squish him flat here were the infants. Still, it didn't strike Aladar as shocking his his grandfather was mistrustful of the hairy little primate. It was an old feud that went back possibly to Old Gotama's day if not before.

Meanwhile, Kron bellowed again to confirm he had found the mountain range of many herds' childhoods. The iguanodons around them grew excited at the prospect of finding something they actually knew for a change. Unfortunately, in all that excitement, the herd began moving at a pace that made it difficult for Yar, Plio, and their peers to keep up. Aladar quickly looked around to see if Baylene and Eema were anywhere to be seen. He was thoroughly relieved when he saw them too far ahead to be left behind even if they could still be trampled.

It meant he didn't have to divert his energy toward helping them and his grandparents, the latter of whom he was accustomed to doing for as long as he could remember. He focused especially on helping his Plio since Yar frequently ordered him to do that when he started out. This was no different, not even the part where Aladar accepted the order on condition that Yar held onto his tail the way both his grandparents did during the sandstorm. Just in time, Aladar could see tiny shapes hissing and squeaking at the flanks. They walked on two legs and skipped across the sides of the herd with greater speed than Aladar had ever seen before.

"By Old Gotama, the raptors have never been this bold before!" Plio said as she rested her head on her grandson's neck. Raptors? They don't look so bad Aladar thought quietly.

"Those are raptors? How are they dreadful again?" he asked aloud.

"No questions, get us going! Now!" Plio asked as the rest of the herd began to panic. Unfortunately for Aladar, he was about to bear witness to why they were so feared even with their small size noted.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

It didn't take long for the raptors to have their next target from the herd and Aladar didn't need to stay and watch once he saw one jump on the back of the old iguanodon they chose. Once the little thing had dug its teeth and sickle-shaped claws into the poor sap's back. A single bellow of pain and Aladar realized that this fate had befallen his father from a single carnotaur attacking. As much as he wanted to help, he had his hands full with his grandparents and besides that, Zini filled him on the details anyway (like Aladar had needed them). "Gosh am I glad to be with this herd and not on my own with those things on the prowl," he told Aladar.

The rest of the herd finally arrived at the base of the mountain range, Aladar and his grandparents relieved to see that Eema and Baylene were also among the living dinosaurs. "If they had attacked one of us, I don't think the herd would have paid even less mind than they did to poor Earl," said Eema. So that was Earl who fell, eh? By Gotama, all the good ones are being plucked off while ones like Kron go on Aladar thought angrily. He'd known Earl from one or two encounters and understood why his grandparents had thought fondly of him.

"So that's why raptors are so feared, even though they're so small. It's not the raptor who fights alone that's scary, it's the raptors who get together in a group that are scary," Aladar said.

"You never saw a raptor attack before today, huh?" Eema asked. Aladar shook his head no and Eema smirked in understanding, probably trying to remember her first sighting. Trouble is, that was probably close to fifty years ago and iguanodons weren't known for their perfect memory. They had good long-term memory compared to other species of dinosaur but even they lost memories over time and at a faster rate than mammals like Zini did. Still, there was something that Aladar noticed in those moments of the raptor attack on Earl.

Less than an hour before, Eema and Baylene had been talking about Aladar's father. His grandpa then mentioned how Bruton had led the entire herd against the Carnotaur family. The raptors are powerful in a group. Is it just possible my dad noticed this too and that's why his strategy worked so well? Aladar asked himself silently. He kept this observation to himself, noting it in the back of his mind in case it proved useful to him again.

While he was making this note to himself, the herd was catching their breath as the raptors had put them in a sprint before they arrived to the mountain base. Kron was still, of course, at the head of the herd as could be told by his rearing up on his hind legs to look ahead. And while Aladar tended to his quad of elders immediately around him, Kron scanned the turns and paths ahead of him for Gotama's Pass. "Kron?" interjected Neera, his sister. The alpha of the massive iguanodon herd turned to his sister in this moments with such velocity she thought she angered him.

Nonetheless, he merely seemed surprised at the prospect she would ask him for anything at this time. Still, he remained silent as she spoke, now that she had obtained his attention: for all his brutality, he never laid a thumb spike on Neera. "Perhaps you should have one of your lieutenants take a couple scouts and see if they can find Gotama's Pass? Might work out better than getting the whole herd lost," she said. Kron nodded and he thought for a moment about the paths ahead: there were two main paths which told him he hadn't approached from the side that readily contained Gotama's Pass.

And it looked like Kron's herd wasn't the only one with a similar idea of heading for the mountains. It didn't take long for the pachys, the parasaurs, the Struthiomimus clans, the Stygimoloch clans, and Microceratops to join. In a surprising twist of events, the Styracosaurus herds had joined for the first time in recent memory. Not to mention, there were Giraffatitan clans who joined the rank of the herds as well which was a rare sight indeed. However, there were no doubts that the herbivores would all take different paths after the mountains were behind them. It was the way that the herds had always been even when Yar was the leader and both Eema and Baylene were young.

"I don't think there have been this many dinosaurs together since our grandfather was a baby. Much must have changed elsewhere, thanks to that great fireball, for the herds to congregate like this again," Eema said.

"It's been more recent than that, sister, it has to have been! Still, your point remains the same," Baylene told her sister. The sisters would have soon begun to deliberate and argue about how long it had been since the last time this congregation came together were it not for Kron. He bellowed the sleeping cry and the herd couldn't agree more to such an uttering as that one. By this time, Kron had called upon three iguanodons (two of them brothers) to scout ahead and check the perimeter.

Noah, the oldest brother and oldest of the trio, agreed to lead the expedition and report his findings back to Kron when he could. The trio headed off on a path Kron had selected seeing that the other herds of massive dinosaurs had the same idea as him. For example, the parasaurs had also sent two scouts ahead, the styracosaurs had sent their own pair, and the pachys too. The only ones who understandably cared to wait were the smaller ones like the Microceratops and Stygimolochs. In addition to that, the Struthiomimus chose to act as sentries since they needed less sleep than any herds as were the Microceratops clans.

They even helped the Struthiomimus clans with gazing out into the distance for raptors or anything else out there. Fortunately for the dinosaurs, there were no predators besides the raptors and they would be seen for miles before they could attack. Meanwhile, the scouts that were sent ahead meant to go on until they had intel to deliver to their leaders, Kron's included. In the meantime, the herds rested and rested well despite the times ahead for them still being bad. The fireball had changed much including the sense of direction that even their eldest possessed with them.

Still, it wasn't all that bad for there was still water to drink, food to eat. It seemed like this meteor wasn't cataclysmic and on top of that, all the herds had the same goal: greener pastures. Perhaps it was a message, a sign from old Gotama that it was time for the herds to put their differences behind them and unite in their common goals. True that styracosaurs had horns capable of impaling their foes, true that the pachys were the fiercest fighters. By Gotama, it was even true that the microceratops were the smallest and most vulnerable of the beasts gathered.

But everyone was united for the purpose of finding food and they ate the same food. They both tried to evade raptors and they most certainly put as many miles between themselves and the carnotaurs as they could. Perhaps Old Gotama was trying to say that it was time for the herds to put their differences aside to survive. At least, that was Aladar was beginning to think as the herds peacefully coexisted in their need for sleep. It was then that he decided to ask Eema and Baylene what they knew about Old Gotama or his grandparents if he could.

However, they told him that there was nothing more he needed to know for the time being beyond the fact that his journey was long and arduous like theirs. He had spent the better portion of ten years traversing dangerous lands to find the ancient Nesting Grounds. And when he finally did find it, he didn't keep it to himself: he shared it with all who needed it. He gave his life to leading others of like these dinosaurs to the Nesting Grounds and teaching them the spirit of sharing that he created. When he died, those he taught about the spirit of sharing passed on this message to their descendants and disciples.

Gotama's bones were said to have been preserved on a sheer rock wall on one of the surrounding boundaries of the Nesting Grounds. If this were true, then it would have been no surprise if his spirit bore witness to the time that the herd started to lose the Nesting Grounds spirit. When that happened, it would not only strike anyone who believed in his message as surprising that his spirit banished the living dinos from the Grounds and sent this fireball. Why he would banish the herds from the Nesting Grounds, Aladar still didn't fully understand.

Still, he had a few ideas especially with beasts like Kron leading his herd rather than warriors like his father. So many thoughts raced through his head, so many ideas for how to reach the Nesting Grounds and restore the spirit of sharing. Unfortunately, there was probably going to be very little time to share it with all the herds and restore Old Gotama's spirit in them.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

As the herd slept, more ominous forces were on the move, promising to destroy them if the herd members were not careful. The raptors were halfway finished feasting on Earl when one of them spied something in the night from which they needed to flee from. One of the sentries sounded the alarm call, warning the others of the impending danger. The sentry fled at that point, despite the disapproval of the alpha but it wasn't long before that was forgiven. After all, not seconds after the sentry fled, rumbles in the ground that could have only come from something big vibrated across the ground.

Worse than that, the rhythm betrayed something bipedal as they were was on the move and in this part of the dinosaur world, that could only mean one creature. Before the last of the raptors fled, a pair of carnotaurs was sighted and the rest retreated into the forest. They weren't eager to run right into the herd after making a kill, blood still fresh on their teeth and tongues. After all, the herds would likely stomp them out of existence if they dared approach even if they would later recognize the look of fear on their faces and recognize the peril they likely fled from. However, another thing that only heightened their fear was the fact that these two were a special kind of bad even among carnotaurs.

One, had bite scars on his nose from when he had tried to take dominance of his family from his eldest brother. Another had a broken horn on the right side of his head from the same brother putting down a challenge on his part. Broken Horn and Little Beast, the latter barely approaching his adolescence and the former old enough to remember when their family was larger, had come. Their brother, One-Eye was still further down south, having sent them ahead to look for more food but following them not long after that. The younger brothers could tell their alpha was behind them from the fact they could pick up his scent whenever they turned back to face the southern horizon.

However, they also knew that their elder brother was far enough away that they could share the carcass without immediate retribution from him laying down the law again. Broken Horn and Little Beast dug into the remains of Earl, the former being first. Though their alpha was away, there still had to be some sense of a pecking order for the trio if they were to survive. Besides One-Eye being too big even for them to collaborate against him, it was the only measure of the old ways that they knew they could hold onto from before the fireball. They devoured the remnants in minutes, tearing every last piece of flesh they could eat since they hadn't eaten in weeks.

Unfortunately for the herds of their prey, that same lack of food also drove them onward, into the mountains ahead of them. They had been trailing the iguanodon herds for several days, hoping to find easy prey among the sick, old, and weaker members of the herd. So far, the only such individual they were able to catch was one that was already half-bone when they got him. It was a meal that carried them on, granted, but it was hardly enough for these two assassins in the night. Not for these two harbingers of an even more terrifying doom to these pathetic plant-loving lowlives that dared to call themselves true dinosaurs.

One-Eye, Broken Horn, and Little Beast belonged to a long and proud dynasty of dinosaurs without whom the herbivores' lives would have neither meaning nor purpose. It was Broken Horn and his brothers' ancestors that gave them reason to go on, gave their lives thrills! By Gotama, how could they not see that the carnotaurs served a primal purpose in the circle of life?! How could they not see that the raptors, though less than the carnotaurs, served a similar purpose, or for that matter that any other killer in this world did the same thing?

They weaved their way through the mountain paths that would lead them to their usual foods and maybe some more exotic prey items. The brothers wasted no time taking the mountain paths with the least tracks, knowing they could plan a flawless ambush if they played it right. For a couple hours afterward, they kept the scent of one in their lines of smell. Finally, they found a parasaur probably sent to scout the area ahead for paths to greener pastures. The parasaur stood no chance as the brothers were already too close by the time the parasaur finally picked up their scent.

Broken Horn caught onto its tail and pulled it off its feet while Little Beast choked it to death with a single bite to the back of his neck. The spine cracked like hardened clay as soon as he did so and it didn't take long for him to die. It was then that the brothers feasted, uncaring that the blood made a trail down the flowing water near their kill site. Broken Horn again snapped at his brother despite Little Beast making the fateful blow. Reluctantly, the youngest child of the most terrifying carnotaur family that had yet been seen let him eat and scouted for any encroachers that would disturb their second meal in weeks.

 **Though it didn't take** long for the pachy and styracosaurus scouts to return with a report of no trail, Kron's scouts under the command of Noah actually found a trail. "Noah, you think I got a chance with Neera?" asked his weaker brother, Landen. Noah shrugged, hardly wanting to answer the question even as the third member of the group made to answer. The trio leader nudged him in a way that indicated he shouldn't and ordered him ahead, both so he could talk with his brother and to see if there was a trail ahead.

"She hates me," Landen said suddenly.

"She does not!" Noah snapped.

"Then how come she runs away every time I get near her?" Landen said. To be fair, Noah did silently concede that his brother had a point on that matter. He was stumped but that was when he decided to see if he could be the mean brother and prank Landen again.

"Well, that just means she likes you," he said. He didn't understand why he thought of that when Neera wasn't even of age to start egg-laying yet. Had she been of age, he wouldn't have been lying about that if his brother wasn't still a dweeb. So he only sighed and revealed his trickery, unable to let his brother take the risks associated with that thinking.

"How can you be my brother and be so stupid? When we get back to the herd, don't really hang out with me, alright? You kind of embarrass me, just a little bit. Alright? It's more of a personality thing," Noah told his brother.

Before Landen could object, the third scout (named Parka) returned with news of a trail up ahead. They followed him but it didn't take them very long to realize something they had previously not noticed before. That the valley around this was quiet, too quiet when they didn't talk and at first, Noah began to wonder. "How much more trail do we have to cover, Parka?" asked Noah.

"Three more miles is a riverbend that almost perfectly runs across the mountains. Too shallow for crocs to ambush, no smell of danger nearby, and perfect for drinking. We can have a constant supply of water and there are lines of reeds throughout most of it all," said Parka. This I have to see, I gotta admit it Noah thought quietly. He was getting concerned about the silence around him: usually, one at least heard a bird squawking on the horizon.

Usually when it was quiet like this, it meant that there was trouble either ensuing or that it was about to ensue. Little did the trio know that it was worse than they thought it was when Noah's suspicions began to darken his disposition. Even Landen was right to be scared for a change, despite the things that Noah would say to him such as his comments about Neera. True that Kron would never let someone like Landen have his way with Neera but there were bigger problems right now. For when they arrived to the river that Parka talked about, there was blood flowing across the water.

They followed nearby crunching noises that attracted their curiosity up the river a bit but it didn't take long for them to find out what was happening. Ahead of them, a carnotaur with a broken horn on the right side of his head was devouring what was probably the parasaur scout. What was worse than that was that Noah knew who this carnotaur was and knew that he always had at least one brother with him. "Now let's get out of here," Noah said. But at that moment, the missing brother yanked Parka on the tail hard enough to thrust him off all four feet.

Then he was pulled into the nearby ravine to never be seen again as Broken Horn attacked Noah. "Parka, go! Get out of here, warn Kron!" Noah exclaimed. Landen ran as fast as he could to leave and warn Kron about the carnotaurs as his brother was attacked by Broken Horn. Noah dodged the bite of the older carnotaur before trying to gain high enough ground to launch a counterattack on Broken Horn.

Unfortunately, even as he gave Landen enough time to make a chase by one of the carnotaur brothers fruitless, Noah never gained that advantage. Broken Horn was much more experienced in the ways that an iguanodon could fight back than Noah was with fighting carnotaurs. Before Noah could get in a good jab with his thumb spike, Broken Horn dodged his weapon and when the iguanodon swung around, Broken Horn clamped on his arm. The bite that Broken Horn made at that point was so hard, it permanently broke Noah's arm at the elbow. Worse than that was that the sharp teeth meant it didn't take much more than good yank on Broken Horn's part to completely remove this same arm.

Noah cried in more pain and agony than he would ever know but the older Carnotaur was quick to use the top of its head to push him off his remaining hand and both feet. The young iguanodon wasn't even dead when Broken Horn began tearing his stomach open and enjoying.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

The herd was still asleep when Aladar woke up before the rising of the sun to the west of them. As long as he could remember, the young iguanodon preferred to beat the sun to rising since he always liked the view. It looked like that his grandparents would soon join him as well and Kron was getting an early start on being a horrid leader as well. He was looking around at the herd, caught a glance of Aladar, then quickly turned away like he was afraid of him. However, Aladar soon realized that for once, it wasn't because of him that Kron turned away quickly: it was because one of his scouts returned.

"I don't get it, three left but only one came back," Aladar said.

"Oh no," Yar said slowly. Aladar looked to his grandfather whose face slowly paled with epiphany as to what was happening. Plio looked in the same direction and caught onto what was happening as well, which also caused her to pale with fright.

"Grandpa, Grandma, what is it?" Aladar asked.

"Carnotaurs, they're the reason Noah and Parka are not coming back and Landen is so out of breath," Plio answered.

"Not just any carnotaurs: younger siblings of the one that killed your father, Aladar. Broken Horn and Little Beast, One-Eye's brothers, have finally begun to gain on us and One-Eye is never too far away wherever his brothers are. If Kron is wise, sleep or no sleep, he'll get the herd moving now," Yar shouted. Sure enough, the bellowing to move began and it wasn't long before everyone in the herd was up and ready.

The alphas of the other herds ran over to Kron, asking him what was going and it was easy to see that he told them there were carnotaurs approaching. "But even One-Eye never comes this far north, there usually isn't enough food for him and his relatives," Plio said.

"You forget, love, that we moved up from his usual hunting ground thereby forcing him and his brothers to do the same. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other carnotaurs just waiting to take their chance on our ranks," Yar replied. Aladar had to admit that was kind of gloomy but at the same time, his grandfather did have a point on that matter. Kron led the herd through the only trail that he knew did not have carnotaurs and had not been reported by the scouts to be dead ends. Everyone knew better than to defy him too, had accepted that if it wasn't the carnotaurs now then it'd be another predator later on.

The parasaurs joined up as did the pachys and the styracosaurs, not to mention the struthiomimus clans, the stygimolochs, and the microceratops. They'd have to now that they knew they weren't concerned about just raptors anymore. Even One-Eye's brothers incited enough terror and fear in the hearts and minds of the herds before them, much less him. For three days, the herd kept up a voracious pace of movement, even the elder members of each herd ran as fast as they could. But finally, the calm began and the herds around them decided to divide at long last; they figured it'd be easier to confuse the predators with multiple trails rather than one.

Sure enough, before they approached a swollen portion of river, there was a place where the trails divided just right for all the herds to leave. Microceratops, Stygimoloch, and Struthiomimus left together while Parasaurolophus and Pachyrhinosaurus did the same. The styracosaurus left alone as it came, figuring their formidable displays could ward off even carnotaurs. Meanwhile, the iguanodon herd continued straight ahead and arrived at a swell in the river which had been only wide enough for drinking further down. Kron scouted ahead on an outcrop of rock that jutted forth from the hill, looking to see if there was anyway around the swell.

Aladar and his grandparents were among the iguanodons at the front, Baylene sadly being lost during the chaos. Eema had barely made it and was lamenting the loss of her sister though it did not take her long to accept that it had happened. Still, there was something wrong about this whole affair: the river was too deep to see the bottom which always meant trouble. Even Aladar, who had never seen anything like this before in his life, knew that there was something wrong. "Grandma, do you think you'll be alright?" Aladar asked as the herd stopped, Plio finally catching her breath with the rest of them when they did.

"I'll be fine, Aladar," she assured him. She nudged her mate's head when he rubbed his just beneath her eye as an affectionate show of concern for her. Meanwhile, hatchlings retreated behind their parent's front arms as Aladar rose his head up to gaze upon Kron. The alpha of their herd had been in ponderance this entire time but something told Aladar he wasn't pondering much.

"Something doesn't feel right," Aladar admitted. Seconds later, his grandfather had his usual reply on the matter of Kron's expertise in leading the herd. It was somewhat sarcastic considering he had preceded Kron, years before and had been loved at least while Kron wasn't.

"I'm sure Kron knows what he's doing, Aladar. We have only lost two under his leadership and that isn't bad," replied Yar. Yeah but Kron sent those two right into the mouths of carnotaurs Aladar thought but didn't say. Aloud, he simply confessed that he hoped so even as Kron ordered the herd into the water with a single bellow. The herd began to enter the water even as some pushed and shoved to get ahead which concerned Aladar.

He even decided to shove some of them back, keeping them out of the way of his grandparents. "Grandma, Grandpa, stay close to me!" he ordered. Too old and weak to survive in any other way, though Eema was older, Aladar's grandparents were inclined to agree. So Plio especially stayed close to her strong grandson and the three of them made their way through. Meanwhile, in the back, Zini made his way around the iguanodons and since he could sense the same trouble ahead as Aladar could he decided to see if he could find another way around.

Further down river, he founded his answer and hopped across the rocks provided by the additional flood water. After all, there were two waterfalls and the herd was crossing through an intersection between the bottom of one and the feed to another. Zini was over to the other side by the time the first dinosaurs were halfway through their journey. Now, he waited until he could see if Aladar and his grandparents would make it across the water which he smelled wasn't right. At the water, however, Aladar focused especially on making sure that his grandmother made it with him as his grandfather had ordered him to do time and again.

Not long after Aladar began leading the way, one of the other iguanodons rammed his way into his grandparents in a moment where he scouted ahead. Fortunately, it was only currents and its anxieties that made this happen rather than any disrespect to the fallen alpha couple. Nonetheless, Aladar knew better than to abandon his grandparents to their fate and swam back for them. Below the waves however, there was a small underwater amphibian (a baby koolasuchus) that swam to and fro below the massive iguanodons above. It headed down, figuring that it would be safer closer to the bottom than if it remained close to the top.

However, as it reached the bottom, a hungry eye opened within the mud that dissipated when it did so. Before the baby koolasuchus could register what was happening, the beast whose eyes opened snapped up and bit him in two, eating the front half. The jaws revealed that the beast who was stirring was a deinosuchus and it wasn't alone: there were dozens of them stirring. Unfortunately, as the baby koolasuchus would have learned if he had survived, the deinosuchus preyed on other animals who dared to swim across or take a drink from the water. As Aladar recovered his grandparents from a boulder they'd been smashed into, the crocodiles made their move.

Eema, the elder iguanodon, was the first one to be taken by one of the beasts with a single cry of pain. The iguanodons became alerted to the presence of the crocodiles and panic ensued once more in the herd. Anarchy and fear ruled even as Kron tried to organize them back into order after the survivors made it across the river. Meanwhile, Aladar did the best he could to watch over his grandparents, helping his grandmother. "Are you alright, grandpa?" asked Aladar.

"I'm right behind you, son. Just get your grandmother to shore," said Yar even as he briefly disappeared beneath the waves.. Aladar obeyed, making sure to keep beneath his grandmother above him so that she could make it across. He also kept his head above the water so that he could breathe and it didn't take long before they made it. When they did, he let Plio drop and rest for the exertion of the journey and Aladar grew excited that his family had made it.

"We made it, Grandma, we made it," he said. Plio smiled at her grandson with pride even as she took a moment to catch her own breath, same as him. Then Aladar turned, called for his grandfather but noticed that Yar was still out by the boulder that jettisoned from the water's center. "Grandpa! Grandma, stay here and rest: I'm going to get Grandpa over," said Aladar, who charged in even as herd members just coming in bumped into him during his charge.

Yar tried again to swim while Aladar began his rescue operation but three crocs were approaching fast. Kron heard the splash of Aladar returning to the water for Yar and was surprised to see the young iguanodon racing for one of his elders. Unable to understand what could be so invaluable about Yar, even with his superior wisdom, Kron spoke out. "Aladar, come back at once!" he ordered. Even as he kept swimming, Aladar turned only briefly to acknowledge that he had heard Kron but quickly whipped his head back to keep going.

Even as Kron forbade Aladar to save his grandfather, Aladar kept swimming back into the croc-infested waters, deep into where most of the attacks had occurred. He couldn't let his grandfather die, not when he still had a chance to save him from those things in the murky depths. His grandfather swam towards him at the same time but was soon pulled under even as the last of the herd was completing the crossing all around Aladar. By this time, so many had been killed that one would have thought the crocodiles would have been content to feast on the dead. However, three were biting down on Yar's neck and limbs beneath the waves though just enough to keep dragging him under.

Aladar knew this because he had taken the most massive gulp of air that he could and swam under to rescue his grandfather. He firmly nudged one away from his grandfather's foot and another from his neck before the third simply let go. Both emerged from the water and Aladar carried him along in much the same way he had carried his grandmother to shore. They joined the last of the herd in crossing even as Plio impatiently awaited their arrival. Kron had turned his back on the duo, being more surprised if they made it than if the didn't.

By Gotama, he was actually hoping that they didn't make it so that it would be easier to simply abandon Plio in another panic and forget about further threats to his power. Nonetheless, Aladar and his grandfather reached the shoreline as not only Plio but also Kron's sister watched. Neera couldn't fathom the idea of one of her own kind being so brave as to go back for one of their elders in croc-infested waters, had never seen such behavior before. The strength and power Aladar had to carry both his grandparents along began to earn her admiration. Even as she still feared her brother, she watched as Aladar brought his grandfather to safety, reuniting him with his beloved mate just before the crocodiles could eat them.

The crocodiles made a last hiss before retreating into the water, eager to feast on the iguanodons already killed during the crossing. Meanwhile, as Plio and Yar reaffirmed their bond through caressing each other's necks and heads, Aladar looked on at the site of all the death. A tear developed as he realized that Eema and a couple of Aladar's former nursery friends were among the dead but the fact that there were even any dead to begin with still shook him. "It was wrong to cross here, I knew it," he said with a heavy heart.

Yar, by this time, had rejoined him in mourning the dead as he had never seen such catastrophic losses of life since before he was alpha of the herd. Still, there was not going to be much more time before the herd was going to move on under Kron's orders. "Come Aladar, we must join the herd," Yar said. Aladar noticed that his grandfather also cried for the herd's losses and was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one. Even Plio grieved for the loss of some of her friends who were killed by the crocodilians that had tried to take her mate away.

Aladar didn't know it but when he went back to recover his grandfather, he set into motion a chain of events that Old Gotama had once foretold would occur. Kron didn't know it either but unfortunately for him, he wouldn't have liked where his involvement lied in the prophecy of Old Gotama. In the meantime, now that the crocodiles were having their fill, they returned to their usual worries of raptors, carnotaurs, and other bipedal predators that awaited them in their journey. Zini also rejoined the herd by this time, having seen everything that happened as it was happening and waiting for Aladar to return. When he did, he reported where he had been as well as the fact he saw a new trail that the herd could take in order to go on.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

While the iguanodon herds were crossing deinosuchus-infested waters, the Styracosaurs were soon under an attack of their own. Broken Horn and Little Beast were on the move again, having eaten their fill when they made those kills a week ago. They had devoured the two iguanodons that came upon them and the parasaur scout down to bone. When this happened, they were satisfied for a few days at which point they decided to continue onward. Broken Horn had no experience with hunting styracosaurs and One-Eye had only ever killed a couple in his whole life.

Despite the obvious array of horns, he didn't see what the big deal was in trying to kill one of them. So he and Little Beast conspired to isolate an older and "weaker" specimen from the herd, despite Little Horn's reluctance. He was probably remembering how their parents taught them that styracosaurs were usually more trouble than they were worth. It wasn't because they were bigger than the carnotaurs, they weren't, but it was because of their defenses. One massive horn above their nose, four to six horns along the frill, combine that with a frill that could protect their neck?

Besides that, the scutes on both carnotaurs might protect them from smaller predators in youth but it did nothing to make sure that a Styracosaurus couldn't get in a good hit. And even if they could use the horns on their heads, Broken Horn already lost one to their alpha, One-Eye. Little Horn knew better than to risk breaking any of his own equipment and Broken Horn was always a little more reckless between the two of them. So they executed their strategy but it didn't take long to figure out that the styracosaurs would not be directed as easily as they'd like. In fact, contrary to their experience with Pachys, the Styracosaurs mounted a defense that allowed them to use those massive nose horns against the brothers.

Then it happened that one of them started to charge, followed by the rest, towards the brothers when they tried to make a kill. Little Beast quickly wielded to them but Broken Horn stood his ground a little longer. But then Broken Horn did the worst thing possible: he tried to attack the Styracosaurs in front of him, hoping to get in the decisive neck bite. However, that accursed horn-filled frill aided the defense of this older specimen who plunged his nose horn into Broken Horn's shin. The result was Broken Horn crying in agony, hopping on one foot as the old dinosaur who had probably killed one or two of his kind in his time, charged right along with the beast stuck atop him.

Then it happened that the styracosaurus yanked his horn back out, shredding Broken Horn's chest and neck with his frill horns, before making another stab. Broken Horn tried to use the sharp stub remaining from his broken horn to at least cripple the old warrior to no avail. Then he tried biting down on his back but did not get in a good bite before the nose horn was driven through his gut. He cried out in anguish as Little Beast simply stood back and watched, knowing better than to help his brother: given the chance, he might make his brother into his next free meal. So, curious to see how it plays out, Little Beast stayed back even as his brother looked on him with eyes that said he'd kill them when he escaped this.

But the smell of blood from Broken Horn's wounds emboldened Little Beast. As far as he was concerned, he would never have had a chance of elevation to beta male status with Broken Horn. One-Eye was too massive and powerful for either of them to destroy, even if the combined as they had when the duo received their injuries from him. So why not remove one digit in their numbers who was proving useless every second he remained alive? Little Beast waited until the styracosaurus finished impaling his brother and backed up to assure the warrior he'd not harm it.

Then the styracosaurus returned to the herd and they continued the journey to greener pastures that they had been pursuing when they were attacked. Little Beast looked on his brother with disgrace, even as he sniffed the wounds and knew Broken Horn wouldn't recover. So the younger carnotaur wasted no time: he placed his foot on his brother's neck and ate. He started out with his brothers stomach, the easiest spot to bite intestines from a fellow carnotaur. Broken Horn cried out in pain but Little Beast kept him pinned in place until he could no longer hear a thing.

Then he gorged himself on the flesh of his own brother until he had had his fill. When he finished, he headed to a nearby stream and quenched his thirst, in addition to cleansing his brother's blood from his mouth. However, Broken Horn's cries of agony had filled the air and that meant that if One-Eye was nearby, he'd have heard them. Sure enough, much to Little Beast's horror, a distant roar of dominating confidence and inquisition sounded. If he responded, One-Eye was sure to find out what had happened to Broken Horn and show no mercy.

But if he did not answer the calls, One-Eye would go on a killing rampage like no other, spilling the blood of any he could catch until he found out what had happened. Little Beast decided that he didn't care about those who were caught in his brother's rampage. Let him kill and eat as many as he could in searching for his brothers as he could, who cared? So, fearing his brother more than he feared anything else, Little Beast kept going onward. His plan was to catch up with the iguanodon herd once again, in case that was an easier time of it than styracosaurs.

Besides being the creature that more commonly ends up on the menu anyway, they had only those pesky thumb spikes to deal with. As Broken Horn had taught him, those could be easily dealt with if you just broke one of the arms off. Doubtless, One-Eye would be beginning his rampage soon enough and when he did, nothing would get in his way. Little Beast knew this because he and Broken Horn had been on the brunt end of one once. After all, it was how Little Beast got the scars to his nose and Broken Horn lost the horn like his name suggested.

 **The Struthiomimus clans were** taking a break from their journeys when the ground began to rumble in the rhythm of a biped on the move. They looked around, honking and clicking to one another in distress and when they did their lookouts spied an ominous sight. The most massive carnotaur to ever exist was heading right for them and unfortunately for them, they already had a couple stragglers. Faster than some could react, the one-eyed carnotaur reached down and bit with full force on the back of one of them. He killed it instantly before feasting and having it down in less than ten bites before proceeding to do the same to a couple others.

One-Eye, the king of the carnotaur family that had terrorized many herds for nearly twenty years, had finally arrived to get on with hunting his prey. And he was no ordinary carnotaur, after all, Broken Horn and Little Beast were already as big as they normally got. Broken Horn had been a good fifteen feet long (with the weight to match) when he was alive and his brother Little Beast was about twelve feet long (with a couple tons him, too). One-Eye was a good twenty-eight feet long and twice the weight of Broken Horn, the most largest carnotaur ever known. After all, he had already been nearly Broken Horn's size when he lost his eye to the iguanodon known as Bruton who had bravely fought against him before he perished.

Finally, he had come to begin exacting revenge against the descendants of the iguanodon that had gouged out his eye so long ago. As he killed and ate several of the Struthiomimus clan, he heard the cries of his brother Broken Horn in the distance. He gave a roar to see if Broken Horn and Little Beast would respond to them when they heard the calls. But Broken Horn's cries sounded pained and One-Eye called out to see if he could help out with it if he raced to their aid. The cries went silent after a few more moments and it was then that One-Eye knew that one or both of his siblings were in trouble.

One to never stall in coming to the aid of his family, he picked up the pace on reaching the two of them. He was still a couple days out but he didn't care, he would run to the ends of the earth if he had to in order to reach his brothers. When he was a hatchling, he had witnessed elder members of his former large family perish when the iguanodons ambushed them. He would not let any more of his brothers or sisters perish by the hands of herbivores, whatever it took!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

The thing about long-distance travel was that there had to be good reason for all the travel. Now that the swell in the river was past and the carnotaurs were further away from them than they had been already, the herd didn't see much reason to hurry onward. Even with Kron insisting that they move on with bellows that gave out the orders, the herd was slow going at this. The river, after all, had taken much more energy out of them than was anticipated especially with the advent of the crocodiles to blame. Even the elderly and sickly were starting to slow down, some of them already being picked off by the raptors.

Unfortunately, there were also several turns and swells in the mountain path and it didn't take the herd long to begin to sense that something was wrong. As if fate hadn't dealt them enough blows, even the carnotaur Little Beast was beginning to take bites out of the herd. He already killed two elders and was looking to grab his third when Aladar decided enough was enough. When Little Beast thought he had zeroed in on his next target, Aladar charged in, bellowing as loudly as he could until he knew he had the beast's attention. It wasn't long before the herd joined in, a growing chorus in the storm of the carnotaur's fury.

Little Beast had never before seen prey that fought back like this though the odds were good that if One-Eye were here, his only surviving brother wouldn't back down easily. Nonetheless, Little Beast retreated as soon as twenty-seven joined in, thumb spikes ready to gouge out bits of his flesh if necessary. But Kron was quick to ensure that Aladar's insurrection did not grow into a wider rebellion in the massive herd he had gathered. "Little Beast acted along when even Broken Horn had seen the antics of Bruton! How long before he's back with One-Eye at his side?" Kron asked the herd.

The herd nodded agreement and it seemed as though the mention of One-Eye meant it wasn't long before the herd was back in line. Again, the herd was reluctantly on the move though this time it was in fear of One-Eye who had vowed to kill as many as he could in revenge for Bruton. Hunting for pleasure, killing for hatred, murdering even when he had satiated his appetite was One-Eye's way of getting back at Bruton's people for what they did to his clan. Everyone knew this and while it again fell to Bruton's son Aladar to preach the idea that they should finish what they started, he was largely alone. His grandparents supported him as did many of those who remembered Bruton's bravery but the majority did not stand with him.

There needed to be some irrevocable misdeed on Kron's part, something damning that could destroy him forever. As fate would have it, such an act would come along soon enough though Aladar wouldn't have known how it would affect him until it was too late. During one rest that the herd needed to make, Kron decided to sow the seeds of Aladar's destruction. He needed a way he could instigate the kid to act and allow Kron to destroy him without fear of the herd turning against him. So, when Aladar was away on sentry duty (one of the first volunteers in that regard), Kron approached his grandparents.

It was the first time since he challenged and deposed Yar that he had ever really talked to the former alpha couple of the herd. "I would have figured you'd visit us sooner, Kron. What do you need?" Yar asked.

"Spare me the antics, Yar. You and your mate should have been exiled when I deposed you but I let you stay on account of Aladar. My generosity has been repaid with a rebellious young upstart who thinks he can rule the herd better than I could or his grandfather could!" Kron hissed.

"Aladar really couldn't care less to have the power you do, Bruton. He's simply making sure that everyone in the herd has a fair shot at making it to the greener pastures," Plio replied. Yar nodded in affirmation that Plio was right that Aladar never wanted power: he simply wanted to stand up for the little guy, so to speak. It was the kind of rhetoric that had overthrown tyrants like Kron before and he feared it would happen again. However, he hoped this act he was about to perform would cut the threads of that and take away any chance his dynasty would die with him.

"The next time that there are stragglers, I want you two to fall behind and follow another path. Get lost in the confusion of the chaos and let Aladar find out you're absent only when it is far too late to save you. Think you can do that for your alpha?" Kron told them.

"Why should we comply when we still have a wonderful grandson to live for? Your order alone will not convince your predecessors easily," Yar assured him. Kron smirked, thinking that it shouldn't be as difficult as they were implying to persuade them to his cause.

"You two are old and tiring down, besides that, the eldest herd members are already dead. Eema was killed when the crocodiles came for our herd and Baylene perished before the crossing. It was always a matter of time before you two were next as you aren't that much older than either of the sisters and besides that, you're slowing down. You cannot possibly make it the full length of this journey I'm beginning to think might be fruitless," Kron told them. The grandparents of Aladar were hit hard by that, not fully expecting Kron to come up with words like that.

And it wasn't the fact that they were harsh that bothered them, it was the fact that they were true. Aladar had been carrying them through much of the journey, having saved his grandfather from the crocodiles at the crossing. He even pulled his grandmother along so that they may both make it to the other side, safe and alive. If he could just lose them, lose any ability to hold onto them, it might motivate him to be even more ferocious against Kron. So when Kron made his points about their old age, they decided that maybe there was nothing for it.

"I have a bit of a confession to make, Plio. Remember how Aladar saved me from those crocodiles? I think they managed to get a good enough bite into me for it to become infected, have you noticed I've been slowing faster than you on these last ventures?" Yar told his mate. Plio nodded, suddenly realizing he had a point there and paled when she realized what this could mean for the two of them. Already, she could see the signs of the infection which included fatigue, slowed movement, and slowed cognition.

How she failed to notice before, she hadn't the slightest idea but now that she had? What Kron was asking them to do could also be seen as containing a pathogen that could spread. Whether or not the infection could have actually spread from dinosaur to dinosaur was irrelevant to the point of that. "It shall be done, Kron," Plio said, Yar finding no reason to object when she chose to speak.

"Thank you for your cooperation, you're doing your part for the herd. You know that," Kron told them before leaving. The grandparents thought about it real carefully and in a way, they had been doing their part for the herd for their whole lives. Now they were going to die for it in a less noble way than Bruton had given his life but at least they would be with Suri soon. As they thought about it, they missed their daughter more than they realized and while she did have siblings, she was the only one who ever survived to adulthood.

Aladar had been the only one who had survived to be a hatchling when Kron lusted after Suri but he was guaranteed to reach adulthood thanks to his grandparents' sheer determination. Now, they were being cast aside by the dinosaur who could overthrow them just so that this child of theirs could either challenge him or become an even easier target. They decided that if they were going to die, they may as well get started with it sooner rather than later. So they headed towards the end of the herd, not eager to let their grandson see what they had done. They figured that since he didn't need much sleep, he would be on sentry duty long enough to aid in detecting the first signs of Little Beast or (even worse) One-Eye.

However, it wasn't the carnotaurs that attracted the bellows of one sentry: a pack of raptors was looking for easy targets once more. They had killed two weeks before and should have still been full, leading many to believe they were being pursued by several packs not one. Sure enough, they hunted as though they were interested in eating and it was then that a carnotaur was also sighted in addition to the raptors. The raptors went for one iguanodon elder but Yar and Plio knew their part, using the forest they traversed within the mountains for cover. Aladar would have no time to look for his grandparents before they had disappeared and until he didn't hear them call back to him, he'd assume that they were still with him.

There would be no time to register that they were gone until the herd was too far away for him to do anything to save them. Yar and Plio took a trail they knew the carnotaur would follow if they just let it see them. When it began sniffing for easy prey, they ran but not too fast until they knew the carnotaur had picked up a waft of their scent. Then they ran as fast as their feet could carry them, ran past ability to see the herd, ran past ability to see Aladar. And as the sun rose to greet them alone in the forest, they knew they couldn't even hear the herd anymore.

All they could hear were the distant sounds of tree branches snapping in the same rhythm as a carnotaur's footsteps. They had no idea of knowing, however, that their efforts would be largely in vain. For in the time the herd had been trying their best to flee and losing numbers along the way, One-Eye was gaining on his brother. It wouldn't be long, having smelt his doing on the remaining flesh of Broken Horn's corpse, before One-Eye soon had Little Beast in his sight. And when he caught up to his little brother, he would either ensure that the younger predator was reminded of his place in the pecking order or died.

Apparently, sending him and Broken Horn ahead of his own advance was a bad idea and now he was going to have to set things right. That was assuming he could get his teeth on Little Beast, who knew better than to cross him on orders like simply following the iguanodon herds. If they had to attack a parasaur for food or whatever, fine, but this was absolutely unacceptable.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Aladar had scurried along with everyone else when both the raptor pack and Little Beast came to take another bite out of the herd. However, then he called out to his grandparents, he noticed he wasn't hearing anything from them. "Grandma, Grandpa? Where are you?" Aladar asked when they didn't reply to his initial call. He searched around, calling again and again, but could not find them until finally, Kron came along.

"Kron, what's happened to my grandparents? What have you done to them!?" he demanded. The older iguanodon merely smirked and chuckled before calmly making his reply to Aladar.

"I didn't do anything other than talk them into realizing the necessity of falling behind before the attack. Thanks to you, your grandfather was enduring an infection from those crocodile bites he got before you rescued him, I had to stop the contagion before it spread. So your grandparents agreed to sacrifice themselves to slow down Little Beast, the next time we needed to put a move on it," Kron said. Aladar was almost ready to explode, having no reason to believe a word Kron said even if there was no reason not to mistrust him.

"So you killed my mother, smashed my siblings to bits when they were still eggs, put my grandparents to the fringes of the herd, tried to get me to let my grandfather die, and now this!? How dare you, Kron!" Aladar exclaimed. He's angry... good, perhaps now he'll challenge me without provocation or support Kron thought. But Aladar did something that surprised him, something he couldn't have seen coming with all his plots and schemes. For Aladar did challenge him but not under the circumstances that he was hoping for, to escape punishment.

"Everyone! Listen up, listen to me!" Aladar shouted, making sure his voice was heard across the entirety of the herd. The ones closest to them immediately listened, including former Kron-ally Landen, who had become disillusioned in Kron's strength since his brother's death. After all, Noah sacrificed his life so that Landen could deliver the message that One-Eye's family were on the herd's tail and what did Kron choose to do? He chose to flee when the herd had stood against four times the number of carnotaurs there were now under Bruton's command.

Still, Aladar waited until there were listening members of the herd as far as the eye could see, even repeating his command to make sure. When he knew he had the attention of as many as he could readily get, he then continued. "Kron is a coward and a fool who has no vision for our survival if he can avoid making sure we escape with our lives. I state my grievances as following: he let my father die when he defended the herd from One-Eye's carnotaur family! He killed my mother when Bruton gave his life so that my family could live, deposed my grandparents, and smashed my siblings when they were still eggs in an effort to wipe out Bruton's line!" Aladar began.

By Old Gotama, he's listing his grievances with me and rallying support for a challenge before issuing it! If he even gets one vote in his favor, he will have the right to fight me with the approval of the herd! Kron stated to himself. This was frightful because this was the way that challenger's traditionally obtained approval and he knew his supporters were dwindling without this. If Aladar went by tradition for this, the herd may even be willing to help him put Kron down if he tried a dirty trick of some sort during the fight. Kron would have to defeat his challenger, beast to beast, dinosaur to dinosaur, if he wanted some margin of approval back.

Nonetheless, it got worse as Aladar continued to talk, not because his words were scathing (though they were) but because they were true. He had no interest in letting very many herd members survive, believing only the strongest and fittest deserved to live unlike his predecessor. "At the crocodile crossing, Kron ordered I let my grandfather die when the crocodiles came for him and now he says he ordered them to fall behind! He says it was because my grandfather experienced an infection from the bite that could be contagious!" Aladar continued. He's falling into a trap, he could lose support here, good: let him finish his piece! Kron hoped mentally.

"But really, when has a bite ever been so contagious it infected the whole herd without mingling blood? When has there ever been a bite so serious there was an actual need for such containment measures? For these reasons, I declare that I shall challenge Kron to a duel for leadership and the loser will be banished forthright! If there are any opposed, speak your piece now!" Aladar exclaimed. By Gotama, he's covered his tracks good! Even the slowest members of the herd will get that he is right about that! Kron told himself, afraid.

And he was right about that, as there had been no bite-based contagion so bad that more than one member of the herd not bitten was infected anyway. There might have been more than one member of the herd who was bitten and got infected but they succumbed at different rates. Besides that, the only thing that traditionally happened with such herd members was that they were given permission by the alpha to stay behind if it was bad enough on their well-being. Only when the alpha approved and the herd had tried everything were they normally allowed to die. Confirming that he had done a worse job of covering his tracks than he initially thought, not even Landen (who had been a staunch supporter at one time) refused to speak up.

"Then what say you Kron? Will you fight me or will you admit your shame and accept your exile?" Aladar asked when there was no vote against him. Kron knew that if he didn't accept, he would be disgraced and Neera would quite possibly need to join with Aladar to save grace! That was just it, now that he thought about it: why hadn't his own sister, his own flesh and blood, spoken up for him as well!? It didn't matter now but what did matter was the challenge needed to be accepted lest he take on a worse shame than being defeated.

"So be it, when do you wish to fight me?" he asked. It was all he could do to say that in the face of such overwhelming support for Aladar and his challenge. But Aladar made one crucial move that could yet prove fatal, something Kron took delight in.

"Anytime you're ready, fight me now if that's what it means. Are shall you rescind your acceptance of the challenge?" Aladar replied. It was then that Kron smiled and rather than delay, he positioned himself ready to charge and face his younger adversary. Aladar positioned himself to meet the charge and when Kron released his fury, the younger iguanodon readily met it. The two wrestled, standing on the hind legs to test another's strength without the usage of their thumb spikes.

Like many fighters before them, including Aladar's grandfather, even Kron knew better than to resort at once to the thumb spikes. Unlike his fight with Yar, Kron couldn't just go against tradition and gut Aladar while he was vulnerable. The herd would surely hang him for that and be without a leader until someone won in all the fighting to follow. Nonetheless, it seemed like wrestling made him and Aladar to be evenly matched which was no surprise. Kron was still considerably young and fit though his adversary was younger and in the prime of his youth.

Not to mention that, in a way, Aladar had trained for this when he would aid his grandmother across dangerous sections of their journey like the crocodile swell. Sometimes, he even carried both his grandparents through, acting to swell the muscle in his body enormously. Plus, because he was younger and more fit, his stamina would last longer than Kron's would and the older iguanodon knew this. So he pushed Aladar off and began swinging his right thumb spikes to and fro in the hopes he could jab it into the younger iguanodon's neck. Instead, the young iguanodon took a chance and turned around, whipped his tail across faster than Kron could act.

It hit Kron in the center of his face's left hand side before Aladar swung back around and hit him on the other before straightening out his tail. The hits had caused Kron to lose a few replaceable teeth but the fact they had been knocked out meant Aladar struck first blood. This would look like Kron was getting weak unless he acted, and quickly, to stop his opponent. I wish you hadn't said exile was what was at stake so that I could destroy you here and now! he hissed silently. Nonetheless, he charged the younger iguanodon at a moment of vulnerability: when his side was turned to face Kron.

Instead, what happened was that Aladar ran past at the last possible moment and Kron fell flat to his chest with a little help from a push from Aladar. But Kron was soon back on his feet, having use his tail to sweep up some blinding dust against his younger opponent. It was all the distraction he need to use one of his thumb spikes, slicing into a bit of Aladar's chest. Though it was a flesh-deep wound, it stung enough for Aladar to notice but not enough to slow him down as Kron had hoped. Still, the younger fighter tried to get a good jab in but Kron whipped his tail in time to knock Aladar to his side.

In the time it took Kron to face his opponent again and prepared to make the final coup de grace, Aladar recovered but stayed on his belly. He waited until Kron was ready to make his next jab and watched to see if he would rise to his hind legs before making the blow. Kron did so like clockwork and at the last moment it was possible, Aladar charged in. He ducked his head and pushed against Kron's belly until he was sure that Kron's feet were off the ground. Once he knew this was so, he lifted his head with enough force to put him on his back when he landed.

The younger iguanodon then belly flopped on top of Kron and pinned Kron's free arm with an arm of his own. Knowing Kron couldn't do anything with his feet once placed on his back, Aladar knew that he had him if he could just hold on for long enough. "Do you yield Kron?" Aladar asked calmly. Kron kept struggling, trying to desperately to get out but Aladar's weight and the strength his vengeance and fury gave him kept the older beast pinned down. The old beast even let out cries of pain which let the herd know that Aladar was gaining the edge on him.

"I won't tell you again: yield!" Aladar demanded. Kron knew there was no way out, that Aladar could keep this hold longer than Kron could possibly struggle. For one thing, it didn't take much for him to simply pin Kron's free arm and he was applying his full weight to his chest. The younger iguanodon was straining a little though which was going to have to be the smallest consolation prize for the old tyrant. Finally, he had no choice, the pain of the hold becoming much too unbearable even for him to take anymore.

"Alright, I yield," he said in his normal voice but the younger dinosaur didn't accept that. Growling, under his breath, he told Kron exactly the kind of proclamation he wanted to hear from the old beast.

"So they can hear you," he hissed. Kron initially kept struggling which was a right of his since he had said he yielded to his challenger. Likewise, that said, it was Aladar's right to ask him to repeat that for the whole herd so they were both in the rights. Besides, what could it hurt if he was going to be banished anyway? He had sown the damage he could and hopefully, that would break Aladar's spirit enough for someone else to challenge him, not too long after this.

"I yield!" Kron shouted, making sure that everyone immediately around them could hear. True to his word, Aladar let go and when he did, he bellowed in triumph, declaring himself leader of the herd. To Kron's chagrin, the herd bellowed back their unanimous acceptance of the new regime change, happy it had fallen back into the line of mighty Bruton.

"Kron, you know the consequences of your failure. You are hereby banished and never allowed to return to the herd!" Aladar declared. He walked off in triumph but Kron wasn't quite done yet: he had only said he yielded because he knew the vulnerability it created. Now, he could take the chance he had been waiting for and strike down his younger adversary while his back was turned. But before he could deliver the blow, Landen rammed him in the ribs with the top of his head and both fell down to the ground as Kron's failed attempt on Aladar's life was ended.

Kron's exile was confirmed in that one glorious stroke of loyalty on Landen's part, a stroke that said Aladar had won fairly and no one was accepting cheap shots. "Fine, I'll go! You can all watch me go but he will lead you to your ends faster than I can! He promises relief from the carnotaurs yet look at what it took to reduce them to just three! Aladar will destroy the herd like his father nearly did!" Kron warned in a last desperate measure.

"When Bruton struck back, it was an acceptable casualty of war. It will be the same again if One-Eye and his brothers come for us once more," Aladar snapped. The herd accepted this and pushed past Bruton as they joined their new leader and his new vision for the herd. No longer bound to the shackles of survival of the fittest, even the eldest were instilled with a new vigor. Zini the lemur, of course, watched all of this with a sense of wonder and pride for the dinosaur his best friend had become in a very short time indeed, smiling from end to end in gloating.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Though Aladar had become the new leader of the herd, he already was aware there was nothing he could do to save his grandparents. There was no sense turning back to go after them, no reason to when Little Beast was probably following them. This was something that, whether or not they knew about the regime change, Plio and Yar had accepted when they took their flight. Yar and Plio were miles away from the herd but they found a curve in the path that they hoped would take them back to their beloved grandson before anything further happened. Unfortunately, Yar's infection came at full speed during their run and it wasn't long before he was needing to take more and more rests, a bad sign as far as Plio was concerned.

There was one rest that she knew was marking the end when it happened, a rest she knew would mark his doom if he toppled over now. As the old male lied down on his belly, Plio tried her best to encourage him to keep going for their grandson. "Time to go grandpa," she said, "Aladar's waiting for us." Yar tried to get up but fell flat on his chest and chin when he did so, mud splashing in every direction when he did so. Plio did her best to contain her fright as she knew what this meant and it was likely that Yar knew what it meant for him as well.

"Come on, grandpa. You can do it," Plio said. Despite knowing what his fate would be, she figured that she may as well be the dolting mate to the end. Still, Yar looked upon her with acceptance of his end in his eyes and the depression that usually meant for these mighty beasts.

"I just need a little rest. I'll be fine," he said. They both knew he was lying, they both knew his time was ending but neither really cared for that. Plio affectionately nudged him with her head as he spoke and took her place beside him in the mud.

"I know," she told him, "You'll be fine." Though she couldn't see it, she could feel him smirk slightly at that remark, taking his consolation from what her tone meant. Still, Yar took a last good look at the world around him, enjoyed the light of the sun wherever it pierced through the redwood forest around them. He savored the tune of the birds singing in the branches and the smell of fresh air, perfumed by a clean spring of water and recent rains that wet the ground beneath their feet. Yar took in the feel of the mud, which he enjoyed for its wonders to the complexion and the warmth his mate provided with her everlasting affection for him.

Then he closed his eyes, took one last heave of that fresh scented air, and simply lied down. He let himself go in those moments as Plio felt his heart finally give out while she was powerless to do anything except silently accept and mourn the loss of her mate. "Goodbye, Yar," she said. She knew that she'd join him soon enough, whether Little Beast caught up with them or she fell to her grief first. But with her mate gone and knowing Aladar was likely safe, she didn't care anymore: what reason did she have when she had done her part for Suri?

Yar was dead, she knew, but she lied her head down atop his with intention to stay by his side even if she had to starve herself to death. In case that turned out not to be her fate, she took a last good look at her surroundings and realized something about them in that moment. When a dinosaur was dying, they said their life tended to flash before their eyes even if they had had memory troubles in the moments before. Plio's flashed before her own eyes and she realized she hatched in very similar surroundings, nearly forty-five years ago. She smirked in acceptance briefly, figuring that the environment in which she hatched would also be fitting for her end.

Knowing there was nowhere else to go, no reason to go on when she knew Aladar would live a long and healthy life if he remembered what they taught him, she simply waited. She slept at Yar's side, hoping she would pass in her sleep though any death would do to be reunited with Yar. But she would find out that she didn't have long to wait at all, it seemed that Old Gotama had heard her silent cries for a quick and merciful death. Though she didn't know how long it had taken him to do so, she began hearing the characteristic stomping of a carnotaur's feet. She gasped in surprise, having hoped to never be awakened from her sleep and if she had, to never see the sight approaching.

Somewhere in the thicket, her assassin was approaching without fear of wound and why should he? Plio had no intentions of fighting him even when he sensed weakness the moment he broke through the thicket. Hello Little Beast, what took you so long? she asked silently but didn't say. Even if she had said it aloud, it wasn't like the carnotaur would have understood her or been able to make a cohesive reply if he did. Still, Little Beast took a whiff of the iguanodons before him and grew excited: he had probably never had such easy pickings before. It was then Plio told herself to remember that the "Little Beast" wasn't so little compared to the last time she met him.

She made no attempt to escape, no alarm calls to warn the herd that Little Beast was about to attack. Not even as his teeth began defiling the flesh of her dead mate, not even with the realization that she would be next. Even as Little Beast roared in triumph of having such easy meals after a week of starvation, Plio did not budge. She lied beside her mate even as Little Beast enjoyed what nourishment there was to be had from his flesh. Then, as though he had needed her blood (which he hadn't by this time) he laid his jaws around her neck and ended her misery. The last thing she heard before she accepted the darkness from which she once came was another trumpeting bellow of victory from the carnotaur's throat.

 **Aladar was leading the** herd to the legendary Nesting Grounds of Old Gotama when he triumphant bellows from Little Beast in the distance. He knew what this meant, knew that the beast had caught his grandparents and the bait they presented had been taken. The newly crowned alpha knew he needed to use the time their sacrifice bought to get the herd closer and closer to the Nesting Grounds as he could. One-Eye, after all, would be going to where he smelt blood first before continuing to pursue the herd. The time he spent following his instincts would be time better spent on the move, knowing they could lose the carnotaurs that way.

Still, the murder of his grandparents was still a blow that was hard for Aladar to take. For how could he expect to be remorseless in the face of the only family he'd known passing away? How could he not acknowledge his pain as he had lost the closest thing to a mother and father pair he had ever had in his existence? The herd had likely heard the cries of Little Beast as well and likely knew why their new alpha was already distressed. Because when he made for one of the cliffs they had traveled by in their journey, they made way for him.

Even Zini, his best friend, left him alone when he saw what had happened to his dinosaur protector. By Gotama, even the leader was infected by Aladar's grief for the death of his grandparents, having come to view them as family himself even with Yar's mind set in the old ways. He sniffed a little bit and let tears fall from his eyes but Aladar's grief was more reverberating, more far-reaching than Zini's crying. For he expressed his grief, not through tears which did fall, but through bellows that echoed across the mountain range. When Aladar had finished his calls, Landen approached cautiously, likely eager to prove his loyalty by being there.

"I lost my brother to those things... though he took me for granted at times, called me stupid, all that stuff, I wish I could say a relative's death gets better. I'm sorry, boss, your grandparents were good people," Landen told him. Even Neera, who was previously shy of either one, approached to offer her condolences to the new alpha. But when Aladar saw that the herd was with him, there was a new fire that was lit within him. It was a passionate fire such as he had never felt in his life before and he knew what it was he wanted to do with it.

"Is there anyone here who was around when my father led the fight against One-Eye's family?" he asked. Landen, Neera, and even Zini looked on him with confusion, surprised by the sudden change in his tone. But there was one who spoke, one elder who had been there to watch Bruton's fight though he had been too weak to help even back then.

"I was there when your father led the first charge," said the elderly female named Natima. Aladar's ears perked up, his eyes widened, and he motioned for the old iguanodon to come forth with her story. When Natima made herself visible to all Aladar's allies and Zini, she was urged to continue. "Bruton's strategy was simple as it was cunning and effective: we'd use our bulk to separate the carnotaurs from each other then drive them each over cliffs. Given how long it's been since anyone stood up to him or his brothers, One-Eye might fall for it again," she stated.

"Then we wage war on him, once more. Him and all his stinking kin! I don't care what casualties we experience, we are destroying One-Eye once and for all!" he declared. Zini wanted to stop him and it looked like both Landen and Neera wanted to stop him as well but they didn't.

"One-Eye! This means war, One-Eye! You hear me?! This means war!" Aladar shouted over the cliff. Neera and Landen both made to reproach him but he wouldn't have any of it, having apparently been fed up for sometime.

"Face it herd, One-Eye and his brothers aren't going to leave us alone as long as we keep fleeing! They're going to follow us to the end of the world if they have to, just as long as we don't take a stand and be rid of them forever! I say we use my father's strategy to destroy them and when we have, we will find the way back to Old Gotama's Nesting Grounds. Who's with me, who's with me on sweeping away the cowardice of Kron in a last stand against One-Eye and his kin!?" Aladar shouted, his voice booming across the herd. At first, there was silent as even Zini thought it was crazy to fathom the idea of taking on One-Eye and his remaining kin.

Even if they hadn't seen Broken Horn in a while, even if it was safe to presume him dead, there was one thing Aladar was forgetting. No one had been able to kill him, not even his father who gave him the reason for his name when he took out an eye on the beast. If even the mightiest of the herd was no match when he was much younger, who's to say he wouldn't be worse now? Whether it was because "swatting flies" smaller than anyone else on the team, Zini found the move outright suicidal. "We are thousands and they are three, people: if we separate, they'll pick us off but if we stand together and fight, they'll be weak! Who's with me on ending their reign of evil!?" Aladar shouted again.

Again, the initial silence but this time, there was a following that began to grow. And unbelievably, it started with the last people that Zini expected to support their new alpha male. "I'll stand with you," said Landen.

"Count me in. I don't have much courage, even as I couldn't stand up to my brother. But I'm with you as much as I can be," said Neera, brother to the coward Kron and usually more cowardly than he was, by her own admission as well as popular opinion. However, that said, it was her testimony especially that persuaded the herd that it could be done, that they had a chance. In minutes, the whole herd was bellowing in support of Aladar's ambition to destroy One-Eye and his family forever. So the first stage of Aladar's plan, he declared, was to wait for the predatory family to catch up with them then use the cliffs to spell their doom.

As the herd bellowed in triumphant excitement, Zini hopped over to his best friend to express his concerns. "Permission to speak, Aladar?" Zini asked. He didn't understand why he was doing this with his lifelong friend beyond the fact it was common courtesy. Since he was alpha, Aladar could turn him away at his leisure now even if he didn't expect it would happen. Nonetheless, when Aladar gestured his approval for Zini to speak, the lemur was as blunt as he ever was.

"Are you out of your mind? You think that killing One-Eye and the rest of his clan will bring your grandparents back?! Or your real parents, for that matter?" exclaimed the tiny lemur.

"No I don't but if we act now and take revenge for those he's killed, we'll ensure future generations don't have to fear him or his kin. Even if it's just him and Little Beast now, we will take them where we want to go and we will kill them all," Aladar hissed. Now you've really gone off your eggshell Zini thought but didn't say. Aloud, he nodded his acceptance since he knew he was powerless to stop Aladar from carrying out his ambition to finish what his father started. But someone in the herd surprised him with what she said next, the elderly Natima speaking again.

"The spirit of Bruton is alive and well in his only living son. I'll treat this as the rebirth of Bruton arising to save us in our darkest hour," she said. You can't be serious, you lipless, beady-eyed, egg-sucking lizard! Bruton can't reincarnate even if his son does have the same crazy temper he seemed to have Zini exclaimed in silence. But he knew he wouldn't be the popular opinion, accepting he probably simply wasn't that brave and who could blame him?

He was already a gnat compared to the iguanodons without factoring in the size of the carnotaurs who he had already seen to be much bigger. Not just that but when they hunted, they had strength, power, and those stinking horns on their side in addition to their teeth. What did the iguanodons have besides their bellows, their thumb spikes, and their tails? Perhaps now, Zini would find out the answer to even that question even if he didn't expect to like the answer at all.

 **A/N: Hey guys, thanks for your patience and understanding on this one! Also, thanks for all the visits, they are much appreciated: let's me know I still got it with my fan-fiction even if my original work isn't taking off the way I had hoped. I hope you're enjoying this new concept and I thought I'd let you know that if this was a difficult chapter for you to read, it was a really difficult chapter for me to _write_ , hence the ending. I will let you know now, I am thinking about wrapping this up in 20 parts or so which could mean I am gone for another really time when it's done: I'm a student-teacher in the last semester of my Bachelor's program and things _really_ pick up next week. It'll be difficult to have even time for my own original work, much less something I'm not paid for so I'll try and wrap this one up first before worrying about those. Thanks for your patience, understanding, cooperation, and I hope you have a nice day today!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Disgraced, humiliated, and beaten, Kron marched off in shame after losing to Aladar and his failure in killing him with a dirty trick. He took a small comfort when he heard Aladar's anguish across the forest, knowing why he was grieving: Little Beast had caught up with his grandparents at last. Now, all that remained was the question of the mighty One-Eye catching up with the herd and begging Kron to come back! He decided to stick around as best he could, always keeping an eye on the herd but also keeping his distance. By the law of Old Gotama, an exile could be absolved if he performed a feat of courage and even given his old position back.

However, he suddenly began to suspect that his chance at glory would be cut short when he heard a different cry, not thirty minutes after the grieving had stopped. He heard Aladar say he was declaring war on One-Eye and his kin with all the thousands on his side now. By Gotama, he could actually destroy the carnotaurs with the numbers on his side and carry the herd forth! I'll have no chance at glory if I don't destroy one of them before he takes them both out he realized. As far as he figured, Little Beast would be closest and easiest to kill off so he had in the opposite direction of what he'd been hoping to go to.

He ran past the base of the cliffs where he knew the herd to be, into the forest where he knew that Yar and Plio had perished, hoping to smell the scent of blood in the air. His instincts would tell him to run but he knew better than that: he would defy his instincts to be accepted again. Who cared whether or not his sister shared his vision for a glorious new herd where the strong dominated and the weak were no more? Did it matter that he had always thought she would someday be amongst the weaklings he would've seen destroyed if he could? His first effort when he smelt blood led him to a pack of raptors feasting on a dead parasaurolophus.

While it was no Little Beast, it was a start as he killed half of the eight-member pack of raptors and injured three more for the fun it provided. Why he hadn't joined Bruton's fight and cemented a position that'd blur the line of ethics with him, he'd never understand? How could he have been so naive as to believe the herd would not long live down his cowardice with Bruton? First, Suri had spoken against it, then her parents had raised a rebellious brat whose father's spirit lived within him and allowed him to triumph over Kron! How dare Gotama curse him from the beginning to fall in such a manner and be forced to face down a notorious predator for glory!

It was then that he could hear his mother speak in his head, the mother he'd seen die when the carnotaurs took off her head in Bruton's attack along with his father. "Old Gotama cannot drive us to do the things we do, only we do that. Blaming him for the deeds or misdeeds of others is like blaming the wind for the scratches on our flesh in a sandstorm. We choose to trek through it, therefore it is the price we pay," she had told him. I will show you price, mother! he hissed silently.

For eight more days, he followed the trails until he finally caught a promising waft of blood. As far as he could tell, it had either been Plio's or Yar's blood in the air if not both of theirs. Little Beast couldn't be much further if he could smell the blood of his predecessors in the air! He ran with excitement, ran with joy when he realized that his exile could already be coming to an end that even Aladar could not refute. But when he arrived to the source of the scent, all he found were two bloodied skeletons whose flesh had been cleanly ripped off.

"So, this is the final fate of the leaders I toppled, eh? A fitting fate for the weak like them, I say," he thought aloud. Nearby, there was another cliff that looked to be three hundred feet, perfect for killing a big creature like Little Beast or at least incapacitating him. In fact, Kron preferred it left him immobilized so that he could die a slow and agonizing death while he reveled in his triumph. But there was a single problem that he had failed to address: Little Beast wasn't anywhere to be seen.

He grew frightened, suspecting that Little Beast had eaten his fill then gone on ahead to try and take another bite out of the herd. While it could work to his advantage if he arrived in time, he didn't figure that Little Beast would be going anywhere anytime soon. For one thing, Little Beast had not yet left a marking for his brother to follow assuming he hadn't left it elsewhere. He looked around for any telltale signs he could find of the carnotaur's presence but found none and was worried he'd missed his chance. But then he heard the stomping of carnotaur feet nearby and he grew excited at the prospect of facing down a carnotaur.

Sure enough, it was Little Beast who had returned to take another for himself, having likely baited Kron as he had heard him coming. Either that, or he was waiting until his brother arrived to warn him about the newly-reborn insurgency of the herd. What mattered to Kron though was that Little Beast was here and he'd be an easier target to kill than his brother. "Come on, you little beast! You've lived under your brother's shadow for long enough, see if you can come take a bite of a former alpha!" Kron shouted, urging him to attack.

At first, Little Beast hesitated and Kron understood that Plio and Yar had made themselves easy prey for him. He was used to either seeing iguanodons fleeing before him or accepting their deaths as these elders had. Never before had the carnotaur seen one that was willing to fight against him as Kron was willing to do. You think you're brave enough to face me, come on then! Kron silently begged. Then Little Beast's curiosity subsided as his hunger took over again and he rushed forth to attack Kron.

But the more experienced iguanodon was ready for him, whipping him in the face with his tail the way Aladar had done days before. The carnotaur was dazed for a bit but it was nothing a headshake wouldn't help him recover from. He tried to bite down on Kron's back, knowing he'd be done for it he landed a good shot in at that angle. But Kron resisted and even managed to cut Little Beast's flesh in a couple of places before beginning to push him to the cliff. He kept the thumb spikes ready to use so that the carnotaur kept cautious and weary, losing his ground all the time that he spent hesitating at the moments of truth which came frequently.

Thrice, Kron was able to get away with tail whipping and twice with ramming into his side. But he made a fatal mistake in his tail swiping: rather than one singular hit before turning back around as he had done, he tried to swipe it back across. Little Beast took advantage of that by waiting for that tail to come swinging back then bit down on enough of it to yank Kron up. The move put him off his feet and Little Beast pulled him towards the cliff that the fallen tyrant had been hoping to use on him. His guess was that Little Beast came to realize his best chance of making a meal out of Kron came if he pushed him over then climbed down for lunchtime.

He could see the carnotaur's excitement in successfully pulling him over but when Kron saw a chance to escape, he took it. When the carnotaur let go and walked around to Kron's neck, he waited until Little Beast prepared to bite down. As soon as Little Beast tried to deliver the killing blow, Kron rolled out of the way and watched the tip of his mouth hit the mud. As soon as he had a chance, he jabbed a thumb spike just above the beast's left eye causing it to bleed. The strike was successful in causing enough bleeding to blind the beast in that side of his face for its duration.

Angered beyond measure at the wound it had taken, the carnotaur charged forward and rammed into Kron's side, pushing him forward and causing him to roll several inches. He only had a meter or so more before he reached the cliff's edge as the carnotaur tried to ram him again. But this time, Kron was more than fully prepared, jamming a free thumb spike into his neck a total of seven different times in seven different places. Enraged at the wounds it was receiving, the carnotaur rammed one of its horns into Kron's flank. To Kron's surprise, the blow happened so fast that the horn successfully planted itself into his shoulder bone, breaking it on impact.

The beast quickly removed the horn from out of Kron's flank, letting him limp in his now useless left arm. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on and finish it!" Kron shouted, taunting the meateater in a way. The carnotaur seemed to understand what he was saying or understand the tone behind it and took the bait, making several bites on Kron's side. Some of them succeeded since Kron was limping too much to dodge and tried to use his bleeding tail again.

The blood from his tail splattered beneath the beast's right eye whenever Kron made a hit there, the smell exciting it to bloodthirsty levels even compared to its usual hunger. It rammed him again and again, taking his own idea and using it against him or so it would seem. He had to admit that he didn't anticipate Little Beast to be so cunning as to lay a trap, much less throw him over the edge. However, Kron proved himself more cunning as he took the next opportunity he could find to go around the carnotaur before him even with the wounds he had sustained. So he made one final, desperate move that he knew would spell his doom even if he came out on top.

He knew that he would never return to the herd alive even if he killed the beast, knew he would have no glorious triumph to show them even with his wounds. No, he knew he would be recognized for his schemes precisely because of those wounds and that was assuming raptors didn't sniff him out first. Besides that, the herds had begun standing up to the little beasts who backed down even before Kron was exiled by Aladar's first verdict. You killed me, Bruton: whether or not you know it, because of your son, you killed me Kron thought silently. When the carnotaur was to its side, Kron knew this move had the best chance of succeeding.

Besides the fact that the carnotaur was now even closer to the cliff than he had been moments before, he also had a small gap with which to perform it. So he charged in with one last bellow of angry defiance and smashed himself into the side of the beast, even with its scutes puncturing his flesh. He rammed himself into it, again and again, hell-bent on knocking the flesh-eater over the cliff before he perished. Sure enough, he noticed one foot of the carnotaur's go over the edge and it tried its best to regain its balance. It even turned in the right direction for Kron to throw both feet over before using up the last of his strength.

But as the carnotaur began his descent, Kron did the one worst thing possible. His tail was hanging out again within striking distance of the beast's jaws. Since it knew it was still strong enough, and weighed enough, to take him down with it, it clamped down hard. Kron felt the vertebrae in his tail snap and cried out in pain as the carnotaur placed its feet on the cliff and gave one big push. Little Beast probably figured that since he wouldn't survive, he best take the one iguanodon who ever fought against him down with him. For one thing, One-Eye would see that his brother had redeemed himself before he perished and that was assuming he ever came by.

Sure enough, the move was successful as clockwork and Kron was sent falling to his death along with the carnotaur he had tried to kill. But unlike Little Beast, Kron survived the fall just long enough to see Little Beast's heart give out from the force of the impact. He saw the flesh-eating beast he had hunted down for a last glorious struggle perish and he knew he'd won. Better still, if One-Eye came by this way and saw the bodies down below, he would be enraged beyond even what he might have already felt for what Kron presumed to be Broken Horn's end. Though the brothers had fought each other for dominance, it didn't take long for One-Eye to establish just who was in charge and send his brothers ahead to seek out better feeding grounds.

Kron smiled wickedly then, heaving his last breaths even through the shattered ribs that allowed blood to froth at his mouth. "I got you, beast. You hear me? I got you before I came to my end," Kron told Little Beast though he knew the carnotaur couldn't hear him. Then his own heart gave out and he joined Aladar's ancestors and his own in death at long last.

But for them, it wasn't the end just yet for as Kron suspected would happen, One-Eye appeared not four days later. The more massive and aggressive carnotaur knew the bones of Yar and Plio belonged to a kill his brother had made considering there was still blood on it. However, it didn't take him long to figure out the tracks belong to his brother and Kron went over the cliff. Looking over when he arrived to the edge, he saw the decomposing bodies of his last surviving brother and his last would-be dinner down below. The herd was waiting for One-Eye though he had no way to know this at the time but meanwhile, he was furious.

His vengeance sounded throughout the jungle in a single mighty roar that echoed past the trees, rang across the cliffs, and resonated in the mountain range. It was so loud that one watching would think One-Eye's lungs would give out from the might. When it was done, however, he began the long march toward the herd, his angry steps shaking the very earth beneath him. Needless to say that his cries of vengeance, anguish, and hate weren't unheard. Contrary to what One-Eye had come to believe about them, their courage was still alive and well.

Or at least, One-Eye hoped this would be the case because dinner that could fight was dinner he'd enjoy. The more they fought, the more he'd enjoy taking his revenge on them. He was twice a normal carnotaur's size, after all, they needed to learn what that meant in power, strength, and fury. Bruton's death, it would seem, no longer fazed them as much as it used to.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

Aladar heard the carnotaur roars and knew who they came from without even being able to see them. "We've angered One-Eye and he'll be heading this way very soon. Get ready, we want to taunt him as much as possible until we can make sure we'll have him over the cliffs. Once we have him, we push him with as much of our bulk as we can safely throw at him to keep him going where we want him to go," Aladar said. Neera looked like she was ready to urinate when she saw Aladar's excitement to set his plan in motion and who could blame her?

"You don't have to join us in the fight if you don't want to, Neera. It's okay to say you're afraid and want to sit out," Aladar told her. In truth, he was scared too as much as he was excited but he tried to screw his courage to the stinking place as much as he could. He tried to avoid letting his fear rule him as the herd had allowed itself to do under Kron's reign. It had been, after all, a long time since anyone as brave as Bruton had ever stood up to them and lived to tell of it.

Even then, when Bruton had a story to pass onto his descendants, he had not long survived to see his eggs hatch let alone tell it to his kids. He could understand why anybody was afraid to stand up to a carnotaur of One-Eye's ferocity, strength, and size. In fact, Aladar decided it was best to let the herd know that he was finally coming to his senses in a way. "Guys, I'm afraid to stand up to One-Eye too but to free ourselves and our hatchlings, we have to do this. We have to stop One-Eye now or he'll hunt our children and their children as long as he's alive and hungry," Aladar told them.

He had to make sure that he wasn't just doing this to avenge his grandparents' death at Little Beast's teeth or his father's at One-Eye's. In order to secure leadership, he had to make sure they understood that there was no way his vengeance alone was cause to attack One-Eye. "But you know something, if no one wants to fight with me, I understand. I'll fight alone for the herd like my father did if I have to but I will be afraid, every step of the way," he added. He hoped that would give them enough confidence to help him fight their greatest adversary yet.

But that was just all he could do, hope that their courage was screwed tightly to their heart like his own. Then the rumbles began very slowly, as slowly as one could expect from an approaching predator. The rhythm of their approach betrayed One-Eye's advance on the herd but they suspected he was too angry to care anymore. Aladar deduced the best guess of where One-Eye was approaching and stood his ground there. However, the only thing that threw him off was the power behind One-Eye's approach, enough to knock small trees over.

Now, Aladar had seen carnotaurs before, knew what they looked like and how big they normally got to be. One-Eye on the other hand, was so large for a carnotaur that he seemed not to be just a carnotaur to Aladar. As far as the young warrior was concerned, One-Eye seemed to be a demon of oblivion, given the flesh of a carnotaur to roam this world and tear into Gotama's children. But still, he stood his ground as One-Eye first caught a waft of the iguanodons on the air then sighted them in his burning yellow-orange eyes. He took two stomps in place then charged forward, eager to kill as many of Aladar's brethren as he could sink his teeth into.

Truth was that One-Eye no longer cared if he was hungry or not, no longer cared for the small benefit of being nourished on the many bodies he hoped to take. All he cared about was revenge, about making an impression that would reverberate across generations when he was dead. Being able to eat more flesh than he had ever been able to feast on would simply be a small bonus for his troubles. But Aladar stuck in place, ready to meet him ready to fight him even if he had to do it alone which he knew wouldn't be wise. Still, he bellowed with fury and more might than he had previously known in his life when One-Eye closed in on him.

One-Eye stopped suddenly, perhaps not expecting to see that the spirit of Bruton was alive and well in one of his kin. So the beast indulged him, a big mistake on his part as it didn't take long for Neera, Landen, and dozens of others to join in. Before long, a chorus of angry iguanodons was ringing through the air and soon multiplied to the hundreds. One-Eye knew that someone, likely the brat front and center of him, was Bruton's seed and strengthened the herd again. The herd knew they had him ready to run but they also knew they needed to lure him into their death trap before they could start cheering victory yet.

In a way, the carnotaur was glad that his brothers were no longer alive to see what it was like to have your dinner stand up to you before its death. He witnessed history flash before his eyes, remembered how his parents and several older siblings were thrown into cliffs. One-Eye relived watching as a helpless infant while others of his kin were lured to quicksand pits and suffocated under their all-consuming grip. Angry that history was repeating itself, he charged in with high hopes to eliminate the leader of this renewed insurrection to his rule as carnotaur king. Neera and Landen moved out of the way in time to avoid his gaping jaws but Aladar ran forward, under and between his legs as he charged past to bite down on other herd members.

"Now! Lure him to the cliffs!" Aladar ordered. Younger herd members quickly encircled the larger carnotaur making short work of his ability to use his spiked tail. Then they began using their bulk to push him and placed some of the elderly to lure him towards the cliff. But they weren't so old and frail that they couldn't dodge him when he came charging in for them.

Even so, he did still place his teeth on the neck of one and kill her upon the first bite. He also skewered another with one of his horns and the male bled to death. The beast got yet another with the other horn but it wasn't as fatal as the first one though it was still a bad wound. He even managed to put enough force to a head push that he threw another over the edge he was being lured to. Then he bit down on a fifth and threw him over the opposite ledges as well but the majority of the herd was turned in his direction, pushing him ever closer to his death.

Still, he did his best to take as many as he could, his tail catching one unlucky sap who happened to be near it. The most tragic thing about this one was that he was like Aladar in being in the prime of his youth when the tail swipe threw him clear to his own demise. Another bellowed too closely to him and he clamped down on its neck so that its head was already in his mouth. He bit so hard that a single yank tore the head off which he then gulped down in one go, a terrible sight for the herd to witness. "Keep on him, move past the dead and keep on him until he's dead!" Aladar ordered.

The herd kept on it, using their bulk of numbers to outweigh the bulk of lonely One-Eye's size. In all, there were nine deaths in the span of less then twenty minutes and three more fell in less than five before One-Eye was closing in on the edge of the cliff that'd spell his death. Besides Aladar's vengeance being close at hand, the herd was emboldened by the fact that One-Eye was already almost out of their hair but for one thing. He made one last desperate ever to break through their ranks and sent dozens over the edge in his charge. But he had not only failed to make a dent in the populace around him but he also failed to make it when thousands of angry iguanodons swarmed him.

Thumb spikes were swinging though the herd brethren took great care not to hit each other when they could avoid. Several cut at One-Eye's legs, forcing him to retreat to the edge in a backwards walk. He tried again, biting off three or four more heads that he each gulped in a single go per head. However, the herd charged in with the same reckless bravado he had tried using to intimidate them earlier and it was then he was truly afraid. Realizing what these many herd members meant and combined with their courage against him, he knew he was doomed.

He had killed upwards of fifty when he was done but he was eager to see if he could add more to the collection. But when he tried, they wisely backed up just out of his reach whenever he bit down and even whipping him with multitudes of tails. He knew he would be bruised if he survived but he had endured worse scars like the loss of his eye to Bruton. Still he tried and was thankfully able to take three more in his wake before he was finally beginning to lose balance. Quickly he began seeing if he could create an opening to escape through the ranks of the large herd before them.

When he saw one such opening he had made before he took it, he made sure there was no one approaching. But just before he could take such an opening, one iguanodon charged in and leapt for his chest with enough momentum to push One-Eye over the edge of the cliff. This brave hero joined him as well, taking victory for the herd in his sacrifice to destroy One-Eye. Aladar came forward after the charge of the suicide runner and watched as One-Eye fell. A final roar of surprise and outrage marked the end as One-Eye landed with a hard thud, nearly a thousand meters below.

Aladar looked down for a little bit, savoring the victory that had come when the herd worked together despite the sacrifices experienced. Then he led the herd in a resounding victory, having finally vanquished One-Eye and his line, forever. It was easy to assume that Broken Horn was dead since he hadn't appeared in a while, it was discovered Little Beast died too, and now this. All in all, the herd felt good about themselves and though there were still raptors, the little creatures wisely gave the herd a wide berth for several weeks, even taking on parasaurs instead. For one thing, they had only their size while iguanodons also had thumb spikes as well as size and they still fled before the sight of a predator.

They didn't like the idea of prey willing to fight carnotaurs the size of One-Eye, knowing they'd have next to no chance if they did. Besides that, Aladar had made a resounding mark for the herd like his father had done before him. It was the kind of mark that would have made even Old Gotama proud to have called him a descendant. That night, Neera declared Aladar a mate in the hopes that this would restore the honor of her family from the shameful example Kron had set. Now, the only remaining regret Aladar had was that his grandparents, mother, or father weren't here to enjoy the glory with him in addition to his mate.

But there was one admirer who watched from afar, saw how many iguanodons gave their life to destroying One-Eye. After the herd was settled and planning to move out again, Zini approached his old friend who permitted him to speak when he asked for permission. "Good... good job, Aladar. You're more courageous than I would've been," Zini admitted. Smiling proudly, Aladar beckoned Zini to retake his place atop Aladar's back, an offer Zini all too eagerly took.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

Though One-Eye was dead, the herd knew there was still a long journey ahead but with his death, they didn't care. They ate where they could, enjoyed life whenever they were stopped, gratified they had a leader who was willing to put his life on the line for them again. Though the journey was longer than expected, they enjoyed the triumph of their victory over One-Eye. However, finally they came to a desert and it wasn't difficult to see that it would be difficult to get across without the herd dehydrating. So Aladar declared that the first cave to be seen would be explored in case it offered a route to the Nesting Grounds of Old Gotama.

The herd followed him, his orders to help the weak move on as best as possible renewing confidence in the herd. Not since the days his grandfather spent as their leader had they met such a kind, caring, charismatic leader. So they followed him even across the desert, even as they continued to starve whilst being joined up once again by other species. The parasaurs returned despite- or even because of- the raptors on their tail as did the pachys, the styracosaurs and others. Even the Microceratops and the mighty Giraffatitan herds joined Aladar's quest to the Nesting Grounds of Old Gotama.

The alphas of these other herds were willing to relate facts about the desert, having traversed it before, that Aladar hadn't known before. For example, he hadn't known that Gotama had to travel through a cave in order to find them, directly aligning with Aladar's gut instinct. Nor did he know, for that matter, that the journey to the cave was long and arduous but also a necessary one. The old trail was even worse and there was the promise of a sheer drop down on one side of it, making it unfit for usage. It was good to know and Aladar listened to the wiser elders and older alphas of these herds, further profiting in his own as a result.

They had never before encountered a leader so humble he was willing to cooperate with the leaders of other herds or at least give their insights considerations. Even when his grandfather was young, it wasn't exactly something Yar was famous for even if he did it from time to time. Once the trek across the desert began, it would be another three months before they caught sight of anything. When they did, it would be either pools that'd empty before everyone had a drink which led Aladar and the other alphas to an idea worth considering. They would let those who were weakened in any way have a drink first and let as many of the strong as possible drink next.

Sometimes they didn't get their share, sometimes they did but the point was that everyone was working to make sure they watched out for each other. It was the best way of ensuring anyone got to the Nesting Grounds in one peace and passed on good lessons to their children. Priority was conceited to carrying females of any herds, who had the greatest treasure of all, as well: they had to be or else there wouldn't be a good season when they reached their new home. Besides that, there were the occasional revolts from those who believed in Kron's vision for a strong herd but Aladar pleaded to their logic and reasoning. "Would anybody have followed me if I blamed Kron for our suffering this desert when it wasn't in his control? How about if I blamed him for One-Eye's family coming down on the herd before my father came along?" he asked.

Each time this happened, fewer and fewer supported Kron's vision except for those who knew of his death and pointed out he died fighting. But the overwhelming majority pointed out he hadn't lived a fighter before that point and was probably only try to clean up his self-image. While the way he went about cleaning it up wasn't the worst, there were better ways to do it than suicide against a carnotaur. Fighting carnotaurs was something Bruton had forged himself in doing while Kron only tried and failed to live in his shadow. His son, however, forged a more powerful legacy for the family and it was one where iguanodons no longer had to fear killers.

It was a legacy that would probably last long enough for raptors to either pick on smaller and weaker creatures or become scavengers. The Stygimolochs and Microceratops were still targets with no way the latter could hope to stand up to raptors any time soon. That was perfectly fine since they were smaller than even Zini, who survived the trip but through sheer luck. His might of will carried him on, constantly reminding himself he could be the only lemur in the Nesting Grounds and if he could just get there, his life could be set. "Any caves in sight, Zini?" Aladar would ask, rising to his hindquarters to help his friend out.

For weeks on end, the answer would be the same which was that Zini couldn't see anything but sand for miles around in any direction. The herds tried their best to keep as many individuals alive as possible but those who died accepted their fate, knowing their herds cared. It was all the more motivation to help those who survived, proving the strong to be that way in physique and in character every step of the way. But after the fourth month began drawing to a close, there was one time where Aladar heard a completely different result from Zini's watch.

"I won't know until we get closer but I think I do see a cave in the distance," Zini told them. Aladar alerted the alphas of the other herds who subsequently alerted their brethrens to following them and Aladar to the anomaly in the desert that Zini had spotted. At first, given the distance, they thought it could be a mirage and Zini even began to doubt he had seen anything at all. But as they edged closer and closer, they realized otherwise and better still, realized they had stumbled upon their first cave in the entire journey. Could it be that they found the one leading to the Nesting Grounds at long last?

They went in, the herds taking relief in the shade of its dark void even as the Giraffatitan herds had to duck their necks under to avoid hitting their heads on the roof during the first bit. Once they went in a few meters, even they could perfectly fit within the caves and did so without fear of cramming up space for the other herds. The cave was deep but it thankfully only had one path to follow rather than a maze of them which would have surely seen some herds doomed. They followed the long, winding path for what felt like several hundred miles though it was probably only ten to twelve miles, give or take. However, it wasn't long before they arrived at a dead end in the cave at which point many herds wondered what to do now.

"Let me and the other alphas deliberate on that for a moment. Zini, come along, maybe your nose will pick up something we can't while we meet up," Aladar told his lemur friend. The mammal was all too happy to climb up Aladar's arm and unto his back before the young leader went to met with the other alphas in the herds. Even the Giraffatitan alpha, a monstrous fellow whose name was fairly unpronounceable, was interested in discussing the matter.

"Well, if we go back, we risk the blistering heat again and I strongly doubt anymore of our ranks could take anymore time out there," said the Struthiomimus leader. The pachy alpha nodded his agreement and the styracosaurus alpha confessed his own reluctance to go back.

"My herd has been decimated by this trek across the desert as you saw. Don't get me wrong, kid, you had the right idea and we did prolong the inevitable. Still, that's all it was really: the inevitable," said the Stygimoloch leader glumly. Aladar let his head fall down in shame, he felt like he had let down the Stygimoloch clan with his way.

"Don't let it get to you kid. It happened all the time, even when your grandpa was in power. I remember the first time a clan reported it lost numbers for his ideas, he didn't take it well, let me tell you," said the pachy alpha.

"He was very caring of other clans' suffering when I met him and I see you are no different, my boy," agreed the styracosaurus alpha. Aladar thanked them and asked Zini if he could smell or see anything ahead of them.

"There is just the slight possibility that we could break through this but I won't know until I get a look around. Can I do that?" Zini asked. Aladar nodded and helped him down so that he could go ahead and find out if it was just possible for a breakthrough to happen. He hopped to and fro across the rocks, careful not to slip and fall where he could seriously injure himself. When he came back, he actually surprised the alphas with his answer to the riddle of the dead end.

"What've you found, Zini?" Aladar inquired.

"Welp, good news actually! If the Giraffatitan is willing to call at least three or four members of his herd to the front, we can actually break through. Should they succeed, we have a chance to see what's on the other side even if it's more desert," Zini told him. Aladar's hopes flared up and he asked the Giraffatitan alpha agreed, calling for his three strongest to aid him. The rest of the herds backed away the moment they came through and it wasn't long before they were hammering away with a push of their front legs and their full body weight.

Their attack on the wall in front of the herd was almost rhythmic in nature, the alpha going first followed by each of the others when it was their turn to smash down on the rock. Aladar and the others cleared the way, watching them tear down the wall with such ease that soon, the light of sun shone stronger than they had seen it shine since escaping the desert. This happened, of course, after the four longnecks weighed down the wall in simultaneity. "Oh dear," said the alpha.

The other alphas, including Aladar joined their Giraffatitan counterpart in gazing out at what he saw and the sight before them was glorious. There was green as far as the eye could see except for a massive pool in the dead center of the valley before them. Trees as tall as the Giraffatitan herd jettisoned into the skies and the skies were clearer blue than seen anywhere before. "Welcome home," said Aladar. With Neera and Landen by his side, Aladar and the alphas watched as the herds arose from the darkness and gazed upon the Nesting Grounds for the first time.

Aladar and the other alphas waited until everyone headed for the pool before joining them, wanting to watch the entirety of their herds eat, drink, and unload with joy. The females even began building nests as soon as they were well-fed enough to do so and they did it with utter pride in what their leaders had accomplished. Like Old Gotama before him, Aladar had promised deliverance for his kind and it was deliverance he gave. "Come with me, Aladar," said the pachy alpha. It was a bit of a climb when they arrived to the spot the pachy wanted to take him to and when they reached it, the bones of a long-dead dinosaur laid before them in the rock.

"We called this guy Old Gotama, the First Bringer of the Nesting Grounds to the herds of old. He was here long before even I hatched and I have a feeling he will remain even after you've gone, Aladar. The difference is you just might be given the honor of joining him in the rock when you are no more as well, unlike so many others who came before," said the pachy.

"Why do you think I would have that honor given? I don't recall leading the herd with a knowledge of the Nesting Grounds beyond that they existed," Aladar asked.

"Because you've made your mark in the history of Dinosaurs like he did and it tickles me to no end to know I survived to see it," answered the old pachy. Aladar shrugged, yielding that that was a possibility but he wasn't sure if he made his mark that profoundly. Guess only time would tell if he did or didn't, he supposed, as it always did with all truths of the world.

 **A/N: Hey guys, looks like a change of plans is taking place. Looks like this is gonna be the last chapter before the Epilogue even if I originally hoped for 20 chapters. Once again, thanks for your patience, your understanding, and you honor me with the views on this story which is a forum I have _never_ worked before. You are the absolute best!**


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"So that is how the Exodus of Sorrow ends, huh? That was actually kind of a cool story," said one of Aladar's grandchildren.

"Believe me, I didn't even tell about how many we lost across the desert nor to predators. Not as much as I could have, anyway," Aladar confessed. Many of the youngsters looked at each other and chuckled at the idea of such a thing even being possible. After a total of almost all his life, Aladar had a way of ensuring eternal peace for his relatives or what looked like it for many years.

"Has anyone ever gone back outside the cave to see what the world is like out there?" asked one of the grandchildren. Aladar chuckled at the idea, confessing to himself that he found it somewhat amusing. Nonetheless, he indulged his impetuous grandson who seemed to have the same spark he once had when he was younger.

"We send regular patrols of those who are brave enough to do so back through the cave and into the old world. The desert hasn't changed much and we've heard that the struggles of those who didn't join us remain the same. Except the world outside has calmed sufficiently enough to where the struggles are more bearable. I pray to Old Gotama for a time when we will return and never have to learn about fear, about watching your back lest a predator be chewing on it," Aladar said. But his grandchildren's next words were more encouraging and uplifting than he had expected them to be when they next spoke.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. Next time we face a carnotaur, we'll just do what you did and stand up to them. The herd knows it works, knows it isn't widespread enough reach every predator in the world, so what'd be the problem with that? Even if they are as frightful as you've said, you stood up to them, right?" said one of his more outspoken descendants. Aladar laughed a little inside, realizing maybe he'd be dead by the time the Carnotaurs ever did find this place.

"If a carnotaur should find this place then we should trust in you to lead its greeting party, eh? You certainly have the right idea about showing it out the door from the start," he retorted with his cynical, old man's sense of humor. The other kids laughed at their brother who only snorted and promised that when he grew up, he'd be as great as his grandfather. I can only hope so, something tells me I should be concerned for the way my sons are running the herd. Though Neera and I tried our best to put them on the right path, all but one refused to follow it Aladar thought grimly.

Since he stepped down as a result of his aging, his seven sons took joint command of the herd. Five were fierce in their hold over the herd while the other two, who tried emulating their father, had enough power to be heard but not enough to do anything serious. Sooner or later, there would be fights among the five and Aladar knew this to be true. It was the reason there had never been more than three alphas before and he had stupidly seen no reason to stick to that. Still, like all of life's dilemmas, nature would find a way of solving these problems without Aladar's intervention.

Dismissing his grandchildren for the day, he and Zini pondered the future of their clans when they were gone. "Seven leaders, Aladar. The herd might be big but I don't see the problem in one alpha and six lieutenants, maybe that's what you should've done when you stepped down. Your five oldest and fiercest fight among each other in private which leads me to fear that it will spill over to affect the whole herd before much longer. Right now, your existence is really the only thing keeping the peace, the way I see it," Zini admitted.

"You're right old friend, which is why I did it. Without the dangers of carnotaurs, raptors, or other meateaters, the herd risks becoming dull and placid in their existence. If their vigilance isn't regulated and kept up on controllable highs, a carnotaur could stroll through and have a buffet without fear or wound from any of us," Aladar told his old friend.

"So you deliberately allowed all seven of them a portion of the leadership title? Just so you can keep the vigilance the herd still has alive after you're gone? I don't understand you dinosaurs sometimes," Zini admitted.

"There's a difference between being vigilant and remaining forever scared. My tactics will look like fear but actually, should a predator come, it will be rewarded vigilance. By keeping the herd's senses tuned up even past my death, fewer die when there is another predator attack. I don't expect that there will be one anytime soon but you never know," Aladar admitted. Zini merely shook his head in his hand before returning to watching the clans graze in the peace Aladar had worked hard to gain for them.

In time, even Aladar became too weak to walk anymore, much less feed himself. When that time came, he was kept alive as best as possible but there was simply nothing that could be done to stop what was destiny. One day, Aladar simply closed his eyes and was no more, never again to rise up and guide the herd with his experience and wisdom. When that happened, the herd buried him quickly in mud near where Old Gotama was buried. About two hundred years later, the skeleton was excavated and it was perfectly preserved over the years.

The lemurs did a similar thing with Zini when he passed away, ten years after Aladar did, as well. A similar preservation of his bones was achieved in a similar time of period and all three were remembered for the courage they showed in saving their clans from death and decadence. Despite Aladar's fears, the herd never knew another attack from carnotaurs but always the herd remained on alert, ever watchful for the return of the meateaters into their lives. Nonetheless, Aladar's time would be remembered and when the end of his clan inevitably came, new dinosaurs remembered his courage even unto the ending of all dinosaur life. But even when that great extinction occurred, the bones of Old Gotama, Aladar, and Zini survived.

The will of the Great Spirits had decreed it, ensuring that the heroes of the Olden World survived for those that'd replace the dinosaurs. Even as a new species arose, calling itself Homo sapiens, Aladar, Gotama, and Zini were recovered and preserved in their Natural History Museums. There they now still stand, for those who wonder about the origin of heroes and why they mean so much to those who cannot fight for themselves.

 **A/N: Here it is, guys, as promised: the end of the story! In case this is the true end of my fanfiction career, I hope you've enjoyed this story like I enjoyed writing it, I hope to read your reviews, and I hope some of you will help me get a career started with my original works _Kingdom of Demigods_ and _Lost Legends of Egypt_ to name a couple. It would mean the world if you could help me out and I'm glad you took the time to read these stories! Thanks guys, have a beautiful day!**


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